


Pink Roses & Green Thorns

by ApplesOfAvalon



Category: Yin Yang Yo!
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Other, Slow Burn, also i still refuse to let fucking incest fics dominate my favorite show's category, complicated feelings, i love these two so much but i cant keep pestering the only two(2) fans wit my ramblings, listen i got nothing else to do, so i'm just. gonna type them instead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24012595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApplesOfAvalon/pseuds/ApplesOfAvalon
Summary: A collection of many moments involving Yin, Yuck, and the very complicated feelings between them. Requests open.
Relationships: Yin/Yuck (Yin Yang Yo!)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9





	1. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuck makes an fortunate discovery at an unfortunate time.

Before that point, Yuck had been a complete stranger to love.

Love was a  _ positive _ trait, so to him it made sense that he wouldn’t be able to feel love for someone else. And given the other negative traits he was actually made of, it also made sense that no one else would feel love for him either (unless they were Yin and Yang, but given that he had taken their negative traits that one time, they were clearly not on their rights minds and therefore didn’t count).

Besides, why would he want to experience love? It was nothing more than a distraction; it made you all sappy and weak for someone else, and it didn’t even guarantee the other person would feel the same way. That chicken boy Coop - he had only been a few weeks  _ tops _ in the Night Master’s service by the time Yuck started - was the prime example for that; always drooling over Yin, always talking about how great they’d be together, and yet the only reason he had accepted working for the Master of all Evil in the first place was because she would never love him through any other, more  _ acceptable _ way.

Pathetic. 

It just reinforced in Yuck’s mind that love was a waste of his time.

Which is why, when the Night Master revealed his plan to get Yuck’s body back as him getting Yin to fall in love with him, he was surprised and not-so-slightly annoyed (the chicken was more than just slightly annoyed for obviously different reasons, so at least he got amusement out of that). He didn’t know or care about love; how was he supposed to make one of his sworn enemies fall in love with him?

_ You don’t have to love her. In fact, don’t actually do that; one of you is enough, _ the Night Master had told him with a sideways glare aimed at a sulking Coop;  _ Just pretending will do, and the suit will do the rest for you. _

Which, to his credit, turned out exactly as he said it would. It was pathetic,  _ hilarious _ even, how easily Yin had thrown herself at his feet just because the robot disguise tailored just for her shot her a few compliments. Even her stupid brother had noticed something was off, and she just kept ignoring him despite being the smart one just to be with him, completely oblivious to the Woo Foo energy being drained out of her and into him.

It couldn’t have been an easier, more perfect plan.

Except that, half-way through it, Yuck began feeling....strange. He recalled seeing Yin smile at him back at the dojo and suddenly feeling a weird warmth in his chest (if he had one, at least). Usually when his chest felt warm it was because of anger flaring inside him, but he was more familiar with rage than any other feeling and this was too soft to be it. He assumed it would wear off eventually, whatever it was, but it just kept slowly but steadily growing stronger whenever Yin laughed at his jokes, when her face lit up as she rambled to him of Twonicorns or animal rights or the book she was currently reading, when she had snuggled closer to him during the movie, when she  _ held his hand- _

A malfunction in his suit, he assumed, but the diagnostics he ran when no one was looking told him otherwise. A secondary effect of being disembodied? But he’d been stuck like that for a while, so why was he  _ just _ beginning to feel that way? Maybe it was the rush of Woo Foo coursing through him, solidifying his grip on reality?

Or maybe...maybe that’s what  _ it  _ really felt like.

Which is what Yuck was currently pondering about in the cinema bathroom. Yang was long gone (and good riddance) so it was safe to sneak back into the theater before Yin got worried, but he wanted a few more minutes to ponder about his newfound realization. Had he really fallen for one of his sworn enemies? The one thing the Night Master told him NOT to do? The one thing he told  _ himself _ NOT to do???

It...felt better than he thought. Awkward, unfamiliar...but not unpleasant. It felt... _ nice. _

He remembered that Yin was still waiting for him back at the theater, hopefully so they could cuddle more before the movie ended, and while the suit wasn’t advanced enough to simulate touch on his end, he actually looked forward to it.

Cuddling, hand-holding, posing for pictures together, laughing together....was it normal for him to want more of that? With  _ Yin? _ He kept pondering about that while he fixed his hair, smoothed down his clothes, looked into the mirror (the screen behind it had been turned off already) to make sure he was presentable-

And Brett’s face looked back at him.

**_Oh._ **

The gentle warmth in his ‘chest’ was snuffed out, replaced by a painful knot in his stomach. 

How could he forget? It was Brett who had gotten this far, made this plan possible. Brett was the one in the middle of a date with Yin. Brett was the one who posed for pictures, the one who told jokes. The one who held Yin’s hand, the one she cuddled next to, the one she smiled at-

Brett was the one Yin loved, not Yuck.

The shadow inside the suit grit his teeth like a caged animal. Somehow, the suit’s face translated it into a smile, charming and flawless like the rest of Brett.

“Love really is for idiots, huh?”


	2. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an improvised Magic lesson has unexpected results.

“Don’t you have an idiot brother to babysit or something?”

Concentration broken, the magic around Yin’s hands faded along with the field around the rock she’d been levitating. She was only grateful that she was facing away from wherever Yuck was so he wouldn’t see how much he had spooked her. “It’s not like Yang and I do  _ everything _ together, you know.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” The sound of something creaking; she turned around and saw Yuck sitting on a branch with his back to the tree trunk, smirking as he looked down at her. Her first instinct was to activate her magic once more and knock him off the tree before he attacked first (or just to wipe that insufferable smile off his face, really), but the fact that he  _ hadn’t  _ attacked yet was...surprising.

“What’re you even doing, anyways?” He snapped her out of her thoughts as he jumped off the tree and landed beside her. Without thinking, she got into a battle stance with her glowing hands pointing right at him, but all she got was a raised eyebrow. “Practicing magic? Don’t you have, I dunno, a  _ whole dojo _ to yourself for that?”

“Maybe I wanted to practice by myself for once. It’s not like this part of the forest has your name on it.”

“I could kick your butt right now, and maybe you’ll see it on your way out.”

He always had to have the last word, didn’t he? But not this time. “Because that worked out so well for you in the past, right?”

The amusement drained right out of Yuck’s expression, his smirk turned into a scowl. Yin’s pride became uneasiness as she realized that maybe provoking one of her most dangerous enemies, in the middle of the forest away from civilization, was not a good idea after all. But after several painful minutes, he surprised her again by looking away altogether and walking towards the rock she had been training with instead.

“I was in a good mood, so I’ll be nice for once and pretend I didn’t hear that,” was all the explanation he gave her. Inwardly relieved, Yin only answered with a roll of her eyes that he didn’t see anyways. He picked up the rock, just slightly bigger than a baseball but twice as heavy, and threw it from hand to hand; “but for real though, what were you doing? I dunno what spell you were trying out but I could still tell you were doing it wrong.”

“Gee, I didn’t know you were a Woo Foo Master all of a sudden.” She refused to look directly at Yuck and distracted herself by watching the rock. More than the fact that he was  _ lecturing _ her, Yin was annoyed that he was  _ right. _ For days she had been practicing the same new technique, and not once had she gotten even close to getting it right. She already knew she was doing it wrong (and she definitely didn’t need to be reminded, least of all by  _ him _ ), she just didn’t know why. 

“Level Five, remember? I still outrank you AND your brother combined.”  _ Not like THAT’S kept you from losing to us every time _ . “Now, are you gonna tell me what spell you’re trying to do or not?”

“Why do you care, anyways?”

“I  **_don’t_ ** , actually.” The rock landed on his right hand abruptly, and she was forced to look him in the eye. He seemed even more annoyed. “But you’re my rival in Woo Foo, Yin. If you can’t even use it properly, what do you think that says about  _ me _ losing to  _ you? _ ”

She had thought to say something like ‘It’s not like you need me to make yourself look bad” or anything along those lines, but Yuck calling her his rival threw her out of the loop. He really thought of her like that? Sure, he had lost in the past often thanks to her, but it was still the first time she heard of that.

And given how often she was underestimated or outright overlooked by other villains, she...didn’t exactly object to the idea (not that she’d ever say it to his face, either).

“...Foo Fortress.” She finally replied; “It’s a new defensive technique Master Yo taught us recently, but for some reason I can’t-”

She was cut off by a snort, then by Yuck bursting out into laughter that sounded more like a hyena with an asthma problem. The rock had fallen off his hand as he doubled over, one hand over his stomach while the other wiped a tear off; “ _ Foo Fortress? _ THAT’S what you’re struggling with!? And I thought you were the magic whiz; it’s not even a new spell, it’s a glorified Foo Field-!”

“And it’s  **hard!** ” She growled, which only seemed to make him laugh harder. Which only made  _ her _ angrier, in turn. “ It’s a Level Two spell for a reason! I can do Foo Fields no problem, but making more than one at a time takes a lot out of you! I’ve tried portioning my Magic output for each shield, I’ve tried calculating how much of it each would need and for how long-”

“OK, no. Stop.” And suddenly he was back to annoyance, shaking his head as he kneeled down to grab the rock. “I take it back. I know exactly what you’re doing wrong. You’re overthinking it.”

“ _ Overthinking it!? _ ” Outraged, Yin was right beside Yuck in a second as she angrily jabbed an accusatory finger at his arm. “Well, excuse  _ me _ for not throwing Woo Foo left and right without thinking how it could hurt people, unlike you!”

“You’re excused.”

Oh,  _ forget _ Woo Foo; she should just punch him in the nose and book it before he recovered.

“Just hear me out, will you?” Yuck brushed off her jabbing and focused on the rock; Yin, while still fuming, conceded and followed his gaze. Amber magic trickled down his arm and spread all over the rock’s surface, flickering like flames on a coal.

“When you think of using your Woo Foo, you don’t think about how you’ll do it.” She was taken back by how unusually calm Yuck’s voice had turned, the amber light reflecting off his pupils of the same hue. “You just  _ do it _ . Woo Foo is raw, unrestrained  **power** ; you don’t hold it back with something stupid like magic formulas or precautions or  _ morals _ .”

Suddenly, he pulled back and threw the rock as high into the sky as he could. The rock shot out like a meteorite until it became a pinprick among the cloud, and then it became bigger and bigger as it shot back down, faster and faster, aiming right for Yuck’s head-

Without thinking, Yin raised her hands to cast a Foo Field. But Yuck, both of his arms burning bright, beat her to it.

“You just let it run wild.”

He clapped his hands together, and the magic pooled under their feet before forming into a translucent amber dome. And then another, on top of the first one and darker in color. And then another, then another, and finally a fifth shield dyed a deep orange with sharp spikes of magical energy jutting out of it.

Yin stared in wonder at the shields that had materialized around them, bathing them both in hues of yellow and orange. The rock had become a brown blur from the outside, and she nearly missed it turn into fine dust as it hit the spikes on the outer layer.

“And that’s how you make a Foo Fortress.” Yuck declared triumphantly, and with a snap of his fingers the shield layers popped from the first to the last like bubbles, a thin cloud of leftover rock dust raining over them. He turned to look at Yin, sharp teeth curled into a smug grin. “Your turn.”

Now over her amazement, Yin was back to irritation as she brushed off the dust off her. She had spent days practicing without making to the second shield, and Yuck had just summoned five of them in a row without breaking a sweat. She didn’t want to admit that she was jealous (specially not in front of him), but….how?

_ Woo Foo is raw, unrestrained power. You just let it run wild. _

She replayed his words in her mind. The whole part about ignoring precautions or morals she could gladly do without, but the rest of his speech about letting her power flow freely was what caught her attention. It was easy to forget sometimes, but Yuck was essentially a construct running on Woo Foo energy; maybe there was something about it that he would understand better than anyone-

“Oh, for Foo’s sake- You’re doing it again! Here, just let me...”

Yuck’s words snapped her out of her thoughts again, but that wasn’t what surprised her the most. When her senses refocused, she was suddenly aware of green fur and orange eyes right in front of her, as well as a grip around her wrists. Looking down, her pulse quickened.

“What are you-?”

“No wonder you can’t do it; you’re so tense. Geez.” Yuck wasn’t even looking at her! He was looking at her hands with a frown as if inspecting them, speaking more to himself than to her. When he actually looked up and saw her expression, he rolled his eyes instead; “Just relax, will you? Or we’ll be here all  _ week _ at this rate.”

Was he not  _ aware  _ of what he was doing? How close he had gotten to her? She didn’t know if she should give him an earful or just blast him into next month already, but as she looked down at his hands over her wrists, she no longer felt like doing either.

His fur was coarse and his hands underneath were rough, but while his grip on her wrists was firm it wasn’t painful at all, and also...surprisingly soft. She could easily pull them away if she wanted to; instead, she carefully rearranged them so that her fingers were linked with his.

“That’s better.”

His hands were glowing with magic again, but Yin didn’t pull away even though common sense and instinct both told her so. Yuck’s magic felt different from hers; it was warm, like placing your hands over a bonfire or basking under the afternoon sun. When she looked back at him, he had a look of complete concentration, brow furrowed and tongue peeking out between his fangs but no sign of any ulterior motives beyond that.

Her grip on his hands slightly tightened as her own hands trickled blue like water, fading into seafoam green where it mixed with Yuck’s orange.

She took a deep breath.

“Foo Fortress!”

The magic almost seemed to burst out of her hands as it cascaded into the floor, forming a blue dome around them. Then a second one...it shimmered and seemed close to collapsing on itself, but Yin refused to give up and focused all of her power into it until it solidified and gave way to the final shield, its spikes not as long or sharp as Yuck’s but still jutting out proudly.

They all held for about ten seconds before bursting out of existence. Yin watched them vanish in a shower of blue sparkles as her face lit up with realization. “I….I did it! I really did it!”

“And  _ you _ said it was hard.” She turned around to look at Yuck; he was smirking again but...maybe she was imagining, but he didn’t look smug or malicious like he usually would. He was still holding her hands, leaning so close his nose almost brushed hers, but Yin didn’t notice (or maybe she did, she just didn’t mind it anymore). 

His eyes were so close. They looked a more vibrant orange than she remembered, like the sunset, calmer than she had ever seen them as they stared right into her own.

Then they looked down at their hands.

Then back at her.

Then back at their hands.

Then back at her. 

And she saw realization hit Yuck like a truck.

“AH!” Yuck let go of her hands immediately - or rather, he did so by  _ pushing _ her away. Yin was snapped out of....whatever she had just experienced as she fell on her butt, glaring at the green rabbit with more shock than anger. “Hey! What-”

“IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” Her anger stopped right in its tracks as she took a closer look at him; ears pressed against his head, eyes looking everywhere except her way, fur puffing out, red cheeks sticking out against pale green fur. “I didn’t-! You were-! I was just-!”

She was just as stunned as he was, watching him blubber nervously - something she thought she would never see him of all people  _ do _ . But before she could say anything, he disappeared in a flash of light, Fooportated to who knows where and leaving her right where she started.

Yin remained on the floor for a while after that, sitting on a more comfortable lotus position. Trying to figure out what had just happened. Trying to figure out what she just felt. Her memory went back to why she was there in the first place, and her eyes fell on a pebble right beside her foot.

Her hand glowed blue, and the pebble was encased in three bubbles, one after the other. She let it levitate into her hands as she admired it, the light reflecting off her excited eyes, before holding it close to her chest with a smile.

“...Thanks, Yuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are familiar with YYY and are rightfully confused: I know Yuck's magic is canonically green but.....a friend on Tumblr pointed out that orange magic contrasts a lot better and they're absolutely right (and Yin's magic is blue like her eyes so for me it works even better)


	3. Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yin sees beauty inside, even if Yuck doesn't see it outside.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you actually  _ want _ to spend time with me.”

Yuck froze as he was about to stuff his face with another fistful of fries. Not that they were his to begin with, but Yin had already lost her appetite and she had a feeling the people she had come here with wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. He didn’t seem to mind that they were cold anyways, so better that than to throw them away. 

He narrowed his eyes at her, ate the fries in one bite and swallowed before baring his teeth at her. “And if  _ I _ didn’t know any better, I’d say you got stood up.”

Yin’s grip on her half-empty milkshake tightened. Technically, she didn’t get stood up as much as she got  _ third-wheeled _ against her knowledge; she’d been looking forward to hanging out with her brother and best friend for once, yet before she knew it Yang and Lena had run off to the arcade on their own and claimed ‘they were only going to look around for a few minutes.’

It had been almost an hour and a half now. Not that she was keeping time or anything.

“Aw, don’t be so sad, Honey Bunny. You’re gonna get wrinkles that way.” She seethed as Yuck pointed at her with a cold fry and nearly stained her nose with ketchup, voice dripping with mock sympathy; “I’ll be your date if it makes you feel better~”

“No thanks, but if you’re still in contact with Brett I’d rather take my chances with him.”

Not that thinking about Brett made her feel any better either, but seeing Yuck’s smug smile turn into a scowl as he bit a little too hard on that fry did help a little. “I still don’t understand why you’re just sitting there and annoying me instead of...well, challenging me to a battle or gloating about your plans for revenge?”

“Maybe I didn’t feel like it. You’re starting to make me regret that choice, though.”

Yin made a face at that; she knew Yuck well enough to know he’d never pass an opportunity to fight or just cause trouble, so if he was sitting this one out it had to be for a better reason. 

She also knew him well enough to know that he was right-handed (or at least she assumed so based on how he used Woo Foo in battle), yet he had been eating fries with his left hand this whole time while keeping his right arm out of sight.

She wondered if that was somehow related.

But she didn’t dwell too much on it. Yuck could stuff his face with as many cold, soggy fries as he wanted; it wasn’t her business. Hopefully if she just looked away and ignored him, he’d get bored and let her sulk in peace. Instead, she craned her neck in hopes that Yang and Lena hadn’t completely forgotten about her and would come back any second-

“Do you think they’re, like, on a date?”

“Doesn’t seem to be going that well by the looks of it.”

Yin frowned, ears twitching; she looked around the courtyard, and the people closest to their table were a horned cyclops and a lynx with a pretty impressive pompadour - a couple, judging by the way their hands were linked. They were leaning really close to each other and laughing, peeking over their shoulders her way every so often.

_ Oh,  _ **_gross._ ** _ They actually think Yuck and I are on a date? _ Yin looked discreetly in Yuck’s direction, but he hadn’t heard anything judging by the way he was ‘doodling’ all over a napkin with a fry dipped in mustard. She rolled her eyes, almost amused;  _ Already been there once, it wasn’t great- _

“Can you blame her though? Just look at him; he’s like, suuuuuper disgusting.” The cyclops stared pointedly in Yuck’s direction, pretending to gag before laughing; “We once had raccoons looking through our garbage and they looked, like, waaaaay cuter.”

Yin’s smile dropped.

“Yeah, geez. My dog once came into the house with a rat in his mouth and it still looked better than that kid’s face.” The lynx laughed, his free hand running a comb through his hair. “Think she lost a bet or something?”

“Ohmygosh, you think so? If I were her I would’ve, like, died before being seen in public with someone like  _ that. _ ”

They both laughed, and the sound grated Yin’s ears like nails on a chalkboard. Sure, Yuck wasn’t exactly a looker - and she was personally more into the “tall, dark, handsome and hopefully also rich” type - but the way they were talking about him....it just wasn’t right. Not to her.

“Hey.”

Yin turned around. Yuck hadn’t moved from his seat, mustard-dipped fry still held in his fingers, but he was looking right at her. She had nearly forgotten he was there to begin with; “Sorry, I was just...did you say something?”

“Why are you listening to those clowns? They’re not worth getting so worked up about.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked at the couple before leaning closer. “So you WERE listening this whole time! And you’re not gonna anything?!”

“What do I care what those nobodies think about me?” The last thing she expected him to do was  _ laugh _ . “It’s not like they’re wrong, y’know. Or what, you want me to get mad at people for saying that water is wet? The earth is round? A potato has more brain power than your brother?”

Yin couldn’t believe her ears. She’d expected him to blow up, lash out at those jerks, kick their butts into next week - all objectively very bad things to do, but at least they’d be  _ understandable _ . But here he was, hearing those jerks talk like that about him and just accepting it. 

Well, if Yuck wasn’t bothered by them, then it was all good, right? No reason to cause a scene. And specially no reason for her to get angry.

“...Yin?”

Nope, no reason at all. He was her enemy after all, so why should she care?

“Hello? Earth to Yin? Are you still there?”

Yeah, nothing wrong at all. The knot in her stomach had to be from something else; maybe the food hadn’t set right with her.

“Seriously, what’s with that face- hey, where are you going!?”

“HEY!” The couple nearly jumped out of their seats as she yelled almost right into their eardrums.  _ Good _ . Once she had their attention, she pointed her milkshake right at the cyclops; “I don’t know who you think you are, but you better take back what you just said about my…...friend!”

But while they had been caught by surprise at first, she saw their shock turn to disdain as they took a closer look at her. The cyclops brushed her hair off her shoulder with a scoff and pushed Yin’s hand away from her face like it was too disgusting to look at; “Uh, first of all, don’t you know it’s, like, suuuuper rude to eavesdrop? And second of all, it’s not my fault you can’t afford better taste, sweetie.”

“For your information, my taste in dating is great!” Yin stomped the floor angrily; she could feel the stares of all the other clients on her, but she didn’t care. She was furious; these two were being horrible to Yuck and she couldn’t understand how he could just accept that  _ and it wasn’t fair _ \- “And don’t call me ‘sweetie’! I want you to apologize right now!”

“Whoa there kiddo, aren’tcha getting ahead of yourself, talking to  _ us _ like that?” The lynx laughed, still combing his pompadour without even bothering to look at her. “You’re no head-turner yourself; no wonder you’re stuck with a little freak like him.”

That last remark made Yin angrier, but it also made her chest feel tight. She could get any date she wanted! Just because she had missed several opportunities in the past didn’t mean she’d be alone forever. And she definitely wasn’t still hurting over those failures! “Don’t talk down to me like that! I should just-!”

Wait. Her hand clenched on this air. Hadn’t she been holding her milkshake a second ago?

Yin gasped as she was drenched in something sticky and very cold, getting all over her head and staining her gi. Once she had wiped it off her eyes as best she could, she saw the cyclops grinning smugly with her empty milkshake cup in her hands.

“Ohmygosh look, now you two totally match! You’re welcome,  _ sweetie _ .” She sneered before sticking the upside down cup right onto Yin’s head like a party hat. And before she could say anything, a flash of light nearly blinded her; once her vision focused again she saw the couple - with more people forming around them - taking pictures with their phones.

And they were laughing. All of them were laughing at her.

She should’ve Yincinerated the girl’s hair to a crisp. She should’ve Fooportated their phones into termites, or even used her Pretty Pink Paws of Power to flatten her dumb boyfriend and his dumb hair. Many dark, angry thoughts crossed Yin’s mind; she didn’t have to put up with this humiliation! She couldn’t let these two get away with this! She couldn’t…

Her eyes stung. She let out a hiccup.

Another flash of light, and she would’ve assumed it was another picture being taken if not for the screams and the crowd suddenly dispersing. Wiping her eyes, she gawked at the now bald lynx screeching while desperately trying to pry off a rabid raccoon the same shade of chestnut as his pompadour off his scalp. The crowd had turned their cameras on him instead, all while his girlfriend had gone hysterical; “Ohmygosh, Brandon! What happened to your hair?!”

Someone pushed past Yin. Before she could complain, she recognized the green fur. Yuck didn’t even acknowledge her as he made his way towards the cyclops, who stopped screaming her head off for a second to point at him accusingly; “YOU! You did that to my boyfriend! You little brat, when I tell my daddy about this-!”

**_“Shut up.”_ **

The cyclops flinched. The crowd froze. Brandon and the raccoon stopped right in the middle of their fight. Even Yin took a step back; she couldn’t see Yuck’s expression at this angle but the sheer rage in his voice was unlike anything she had heard out of him before.

“You’ve got some  _ nerve _ , talking to her like that.” The rabbit sneered, hands clenching and unclenching like he was itching to dig his nails into  _ something _ . “She’s a Woo Foo Warrior; she could turn you into a half-eaten pretzel and throw you in the garbage where you belong, and the only reason she hasn’t done that is cuz she’s too  _ soft _ for her own good.”

His hands ignited with magic, and everyone took a step back.

“But  _ I’m _ not.” Yuck took a step forward, and the cyclops tripped on her on feet and fell on her butt besides her equally terrified boyfriend. “So unless you wanna join the rest of today’s leftovers, you better scram and never show your face here again.  **_GOT IT!?_ ** ”

She didn’t need any more convincing; she was already crying past the crowd and away from the plaza. As soon as he noticed his girlfriend had left him behind, Brandon ran after her - or rather hopped, since the raccoon that used to be his hair latched on to his leg instead. Some of the crowd remained, but whatever expression Yuck had was enough to send the last of them running like their life depended on it.

But even after everyone was long gone, he still didn’t relax.

“Yuck?”

He snapped his head around to look at her, and she was taken back by the  _ hatred _ in his eyes. Not that it lasted long, quickly being replaced by confusion, and then by annoyance as he shook her shoulders; “And  _ you! _ I told you not to waste your time with those morons! What the heck did you pick a fight with them for!?”

“Me!? What about  _ you!? _ ” Yin brushed Yuck’s hands off her shoulders and plucked the cup off her head before throwing it into the garbage a little too strongly. “You sure didn’t seem to mind having them walk all over you before, so what was that just now?!”

“I already told you, they weren’t worth fighting over just for stating the obvious!”

_ Stop saying that! _ “Well, if standing up for yourself wasn’t worth the trouble, then why did you stand up for me?!”

“I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME THING!”

Yin felt silent at that response, and Yuck seemed to have a similar reaction as he froze like a deer caught in headlights. It made her think: why  _ did _ she suddenly care so much about what other people said about Yuck when not even  _ he _ cared? 

Why did it bother her so much that he  _ didn’t _ care?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she shivered. She had nearly forgotten she was dripping strawberry milkshake; she felt cold and clammy and gross. It also made her remember how she had gotten like that in the first place, and she felt even more clammy and gross not just because of the milkshake.

And it must’ve shown on her face, since she noticed Yuck staring. Was he gonna laugh at her too?

Instead, she saw him awkwardly reach out to her, then pull back, then reach out again. “Hey...do….do you need-?”

Then he froze, face hardening. And then disappeared down the street before she could stop him.

“Yin, what  _ happened _ to you?!”

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around to meet Yang and Lena’s confused and concerned stares. Lena in particular looked at her worriedly before frowning and pinching Yang’s ear; “I told you we should’ve come back sooner! If you hadn’t wasted all that time on that stupid claw machine-!”

“Ow- _ OW! _ C’mon, Lena! They had a limited edition action figure, what did you want me to do!?”

“Oh, I dunno,  _ not waste nearly two hours trying to get it?!” _

Yin just stared as Yang kept trying to escape Lena’s grip. While they kept arguing, she couldn’t stop her mind wandering back to Yuck. The way he had reacted, the way he had reached out for her...

“Guys, please, I promise I’ll explain later.” Her brother and best friend stopped to look at her, but Yin was already walking past them. “But can we please go back home? I really need a shower.

It wouldn’t be until much later that she’d realize she hadn’t thanked him.


	4. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuck remained kind, and Yin begins to realize it's genuine after all.

“So...A garden, huh?”

Yuck looked up from the plants he was tending to, and the look in his eyes nearly made Yin reel. It was like looking into a puppy’s eyes; wide-eyed and innocent and  _ so out of place _ on the green rabbit’s face, just like the neatly combed aquamarine fur and the genuinely kind smile. 

She’d think she was talking to a completely different person, but the kindness in his smile couldn’t hide the sharpness of his teeth. And the innocent puppy look couldn’t hide the fiery orange hue that she’d recognize anywhere.

(And she hated herself for still doing so).

“Hi, Yin!” The voice didn’t help either; warm and eager like he was greeting an old friend and not a  _ sworn enemy _ ; she watched him clean his gardening gloves on the apron he was wearing before getting to his feet so they were eye to eye. “Do you like it? It was a gift from President Muffin as thanks for helping around town; he said I could have anything I wanted!”

“It’s...something, alright.” And that part at least was true; the newly built garden only took a small corner of the dojo yard, but it was already brimming with flowers of all types and colors. Then again, Yuck had been going at it since the day he officially moved in as a student; he’d spent more time tending to them than training, which was yet another new and unsettling thing about him.

_If he’s faking it, he’s going for the long run this time,_ she mused to herself as a hydrangea bush caught her attention. “I didn’t think you’d be the gardening type, Yuck.”

“...Luck.”

She turned her head to stare. “Come again?”

Yuck flinched, eyes wide and ears pressed flat like he’d been caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t. He fiddled with his hands, refusing to look at her -  _ again _ , so weirdly out of place; “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...I just don’t like being called that.”

“You don’t like being called by your name?”

“I don’t like  _ having _ that name. It’s just so….. **_yucky_ ** .” There was a brief flash of cartoonish disgust that twisted his whole expression, a brief reminder for who Yin was talking to, before it softened and she was back to talking with a stranger. “‘Luck’ sounds more positive, but also similar enough so it’s easier for people to memorize. Besides…”

He finally looked back, and the look of genuine gratitude in his eyes caught Yin off guard. “I really AM lucky that you guys decided to give me a second chance! So it fits me pretty well, don’t you think?”

“....Yeah.”  _ Maybe a little too well _ , she inwardly fumed; Yuck - or  **_Luck_ ** , rather - becoming the newest student at the dojo definitely hadn’t been hers or Yang’s idea. But no one had bothered to listen to them - not the citizens, not President Muffin, not even Master Yo, and specially not after his special surprise (which turned out to be a lovely, completely _ non-lethal _ friendship statue) was unveiled before she and Yang could intervene.

_ Gotta hand it to you, Yuck. You've really got everyone eating out of your palm this time around. But you can’t fool me that easily,  _ **_not again!_ **

“So…. _ Luck _ .” Feigning disinterest, Yin walked past the other and through the garden to take a closer look at the flowers (and scope out whatever evil scheme Yuck needed them for). As a flower enthusiast herself though, he had to admit he’d done a pretty good job at maintaining them; “You still haven’t told me why you chose gardening.”

“Well, it’s only fair.” Yuck was right behind her, and from the corner of her vision she saw him trim some dead leaves off the stalks of some daffodils. And he did so with such care, like even the slightest move off-kilter would kill them. “I spent so much time  _ taking  _ that it’s only right that I try giving back instead. Preserve something rather than destroy it, you know?”

If Yang were here - and not cleaning the indoor bathrooms while she was  _ supposed _ to clean the outhouse - he would’ve laughed at hearing that and she wouldn’t have blamed him. Words like those coming out of someone like Yuck just sounded wrong and completely unbelievable. 

But in that moment, as he finished plucking the dead leaves and began watering the daffodils, a gentle smile on his face, those words suddenly didn’t feel so unbelievable.

_ He really is playing the long game here. _

Not that she had a chance to think much about it, since a splash of bright pink caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, Yin’s eyes lit up with genuine excitement, any thought about exposing Yuck’s evil plans momentarily forgotten. “Are those roses?”

Without thinking, Yin closed the distance between her and the rosebush in record time; was it cliché of her to like roses? Maybe. But romantic clichés were her ultimate weakness, and there was no flower more romantic than roses. And these came in  _ her _ color!

Such was her excitement that she didn’t see Yuck reach out to her; “Wait, be careful! Don’t try to-!”

“OW!”

The moment she reached out to pluck one of the roses, she immediately pulled back like she had put her hand into an open flame instead. Only then did she notice the sharp thorns under, some of their tips darker and wet. When she looked down at her fingers, she saw them covered in scratches and droplets of blood.

“Yin! Are you OK?”

“I-I’m fine!” The thorns had surprised her more than they had hurt her, but that didn’t mean it  _ didn’t _ hurt. She tried flexing her hand, but the cuts made her wince. “I’m just gonna get some bandages and-”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Yuck’s hands - now without the gardening gloves - were soft.

Yin was too dumbfounded by surprise that she could do nothing but stare as Yuck inspected her hand between his own, as gently as he had held those daffodils, like he was  _ afraid _ to hurt her. Even though he was looking down, he had gotten so close to her that she could see the concern clearly in his eyes, too genuine to be an act.

(The eyes, it was always  _ those stupid eyes- _ )

“Here, let me just…” Before she could interject, Yuck grabbed the hem of his own gi and ripped a long strip of it off. Another uncharacteristic habit he had gained were borderline obsessive cleaning habits, so she wasn’t worried when he carefully wrapped the cloth around her hand...just surprised. “Is this better?”

It still stung a bit to flex her fingers, but much less so than before. “Y-yeah, I got more surprised than hurt. Aren’t you supposed to cut the thorns off, anyways? I mean, they’re your roses.” 

Yuck’s hands stiffened around hers, and he got a strange expression in his face. Remembering why she had come here in the first place, Yin suddenly became alert; had she somehow broken through his charade? Was he about to drop his act? If she screamed now, would that be enough time for Yang to come help?

But what she got instead was a sigh. “I...I don’t really want to do that. The thorns are part of the rose, so without them...it’s just not the same. It’s not right.”

His fingers twitched, and only then did Yin notice the scratches and cuts on his own hands. “Don’t you get hurt when you maintain them, though?”

“Yeah, but I don’t mind.” He looked down and pouted at his now torn gi, rubbing the uneven hem between his fingers. “Aw man...I hope Master Yo doesn’t get mad at me for ruining my uniform, though.”

Yin only stared at him, dumbfounded. What was  _ wrong _ with him? Why did he act like this, the complete opposite of who he  _ really _ was? Why go through these lengths just to gain their trust when it was all an act? 

**_If_ ** it was all an act.

“...Yin?”

“I…” There was a strange feeling, a realization in her chest, and she didn’t like it. “I should go back to cleaning the outhouse. Master Yo’s gonna flip if he realizes I’ve been slacking off this whole time.”

“Oh no! Was I distracting you? Let me do it then! I mean, your hand...”

“I just got scratched by thorns; I’m pretty sure I won’t lose my hand over  _ that. _ ”

“Can I at least help you clean?”

He was doing it again. That sweet smile. That light in his eyes. That gentle, foreign, completely strange expression that had no business being on the face of the rabbit that had broken her heart. A expression that had no business making her feel like she felt.

“...Alright.”

Yuck’s smile grew even wider, but then his expression switched to surprise; she could almost picture the lightbulb turning on over his head. “Oh! But before I forget, do you want a flower?”

She tilted her head.

“You like flowers too, right? That’s why you came over in the first place.” He turned around and waved his arm towards his prized collection. “So you can grab any flower you want! I don’t mind!”

Yin considered turning him down for a moment, but the eager look in his eyes made that decision waver. And he was right; she’d love a flower to brighten up her room. She would’ve picked one of those pink roses in a heartbeat, but the strange feeling in her chest persisted just by looking at them.

Then another flower caught her eye. “What about that one?”

Yuck - no, _ Luck _ \- followed her gaze, and his face lit up brighter than she had seen him all day. He slipped his gloves back on, and when he returned to her side he carefully placed her choice in her hands before heading over to the outhouse to get started on cleaning it. She walked right behind him, admiring the newest addition to her room in front of her.

A small sunflower, neatly tucked into its own pot. Framed by a beautiful ring of petals like a halo, a lovely imitation of its namesake. Petals of that amber hue she’d recognize anywhere.

(Somehow, she no longer hated herself for still doing so).


	5. Fairytale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yin shows Yuck the power of true love, but unfortunately he has his own opinions about that.

“I can’t believe you.” From the other side, Yuck’s voice was still obnoxiously loud; even alongside the screech of his sharp nails against the Foo Field. “I go through the trouble of imprisoning you and setting you up as bait, and all you do is _ read?!  _ Where did you even get those!?”

Yin grit her teeth; she had read the same line on the same page for the seventh time in five minutes and those nails were gonna make her go for the eighth. “I always carry a couple of books with me in case I get bored with nothing better to do. Like, you know,  _ right now? _ ”

“Not my fault your brother’s too dumb to find my hideout. Then again, maybe I’m just too smart for the two of you.” If Yuck noticed Yin’s pointed glare, he didn’t show it; instead, he pressed his face against the field she was trapped in, trying to get a better look at the book in her hands. “But you’re not even trying to fight back or escape! What gives? What’s so special about that dumb book that’s making you ignore your impending doom!?”

“You mean beside the fact that we always beat you and this time it shouldn’t be any different?” The scowl on his face would’ve been enough to make sharks cry, but all it got out of her was a giggle and a raspberry blown in his direction. “Why should I tell you anyways? It’s not something you’re gonna like.”

“I wanna know anyways!” Yuck caught her off guard by actually climbing on the Foo Field, nails digging in until he was right at the top of the dome with his face still pressed against the surface. And despite her current predicament, the way his eyes narrowed with his face pressed like that nearly made her burst out laughing; “‘Fairytale Classics: Part VI’? Ugh,  _ lame _ ; I thought I’d be a Woo Foo tome or something.”

“Told you; I knew you wouldn’t like it.” After the tenth failed rereading she decided to call it quits; she placed her bookmark between the pages and levitated closer to the top where Yuck was now sulking cross-legged; “I mean, I do read Woo Foo history texts and magic guides, too-”

“They why are you reading that instead? Aren’t fairytales for babies?”

“They are  _ NOT! _ ” Yin punched the Foo Field right where Yuck’s face was (and immediately regretted it with the way her knuckles stung, but refused to let it show in front of him). “Fairytales teach us very important core values and life lessons! Like friendship, and being kind to others! The power of true love that prevails over all! How happy endings are  _ always  _ possible!”

“EXACTLY! They’re all the same lovey-dovey schmuck with the prince and princess riding off into the sunset to swap spit or something.” At one point, Yuck had taken to lying on his stomach with his chin resting over his crossed arms; if not for the shield, he and Yin would’ve almost nose to nose. “They can’t even make their own sappiness original.”

Yin’s frown deepened, and she opened her book to skim through it; “You can’t say that when you’ve probably never read a single story. There’s plenty of them:  _ The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast- _ ”

Yuck’s ear twitched.

“ _ -Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Glass Mountain, Pinocchio _ …but  _ Beauty and the Beast _ is my favorite!” She backtracked until she was back where she had left off, looking up to glare at the other again; “But I don’t see why I have to tell you more if you’re not interested, anyways.”

“And what if I was?”

Yin tilted her head, eyes narrowed; she tried to scope out any hint of mockery or deception out of Yuck, but even through the Foo Field she could tell he was genuinely interested, eyes focused on the picture of the Beast staring down at Belle that she had last left on. “You’re….you’re serious?”

“Uh, yeah? It’s not fair  _ I _ get bored and  _ you _ don’t while waiting for Yang to show up.” He slid off the top of the shield like a slide and sat on the ground against it, still pressing his face to take a closer look. “I wanna know why you like it so much. Plus, it has ‘Beast’ on the title so I’ll bite.”

A little voice in the back of Yin’s head warned her to just ignore him, that this was clearly yet another trick to take advantage of her. And yet...the temptation to gush about her favorite fairytale was too great; it’s not something she did often since no one else was as passionate about it as she was, unfortunately.

“Alright, but if you’re messing with me I WILL find a way to break out of here just so I can slap you.” Yuck only answered with a grin, and Yin rolled her eyes in return before levitating over to sit right next to him. She flipped the pages all the way back to the beginning of the story, making sure that it would be visible to Yuck from outside the field. 

“So we have our protagonist Belle, right? Now, Belle lives in a small quiet town but she dreams of living the same adventures she’s read in her books…”

And for the following hour or so, Yin gushed nonstop about the story of Belle, how she gave herself up to the terrifying Beast to save her father, how slowly yet steadily the Beast proved to not be so beastly after all....and how they both fell in love with one another. Yin loved their story not only because she saw so much of herself in Belle, but also because her relationship with the Beast made the girl’s heart flutter. While she preferred a prince of her own - tall, dark, handsome and hopefully  _ loaded _ \- there was something so exciting about the Beast himself; something about its outwardly monstrous appearance that hid a heart of gold…

Even as she kept rambling on, she’d steal a couple of glances in Yuck’s direction to make sure he was following. She’d expected him to get bored or complain at any moment, but to her surprise he really was invested in the story, hands and face pressed against the field every time she placed the book closer to him. While she never pointed it out loud, she was specially fascinated with the way his eyes lit up every time the Beast was mentioned, amber hues fixated on the illustrations of the monster’s imposing form.

Even if she couldn’t figure out exactly how her favorite story appealed to one of her sworn enemies, she was still glad.

At least, until they reached the ending.

“And then, just as Beast was on the verge of death,” Yin tried to make her narrating voice as dramatic as possible; this was her absolute favorite part and she wanted to capture the feeling of it just right; “Belle’s true love for him broke the curse and turned him back into a prince! They shared their first kiss, and lived happily ever after!”

Her eyes sparkled like stars as she saw the last illustration - Belle and the Prince dancing happily, surrounded by their friends - and held it open wide for Yuck to see; “Here it is! What do you-?”

Her face fell.

Yuck was staring at the picture in the book, but instead of the curiosity and interest he had before, he looked at it like he wanted to set it on fire.

“Yuck? What’s wrong?” Yin’s ears lowered as she pulled the book away from his sight; “What’s with that look?”

“That’s it? That’s the ending? The Beast was a  _ dumb prince _ all along!?” Yuck’s stance was suddenly tense, his fur puffed up with outrage as he glared sourly at Yin; “What kind of ending is that!? That’s so  _ stupid! _ ”

“What!?” Now it was her turn to be outraged, hugging the book close to her chest like it was her baby; “It’s not stupid! And why are you even surprised when the beginning already mentioned he was a prince-”

A blink. “Wait...did I really not mention that part?”

“NO! You  _ DIDN’T _ , Yin!” Now Yuck was stomping the ground childishly as he paced around the Foo Field; “I thought it was supposed to be  _ Beauty and the Beast _ , not  _ Beauty and the Boring, Useless Pretty-Face Prince _ ! That’s why I was interested in the first place; what was the whole point of the story, then?!”

“The  _ point? _ ” Had she thought wrong? Had he not learned  _ anything  _ from everything she just told him? “The whole point was that the prince had to learn to be beautiful on the inside to be beautiful on the outside again! He had to learn to love others so that he could be loved despite being a monster!”

“But…but Belle  _ already _ liked him as a monster!” Why was Yuck so angry over this? Why did he look so frustrated? Why did was he taking this so... _ personally?  _ “He didn’t need to change back, so why did he!?”

“Why would he  _ want  _ to  _ stay _ a  **_beast!?_ ** ”

Yuck stopped mid-pace to stare at her, and the look on his face made Yin freeze. He was definitely angry, but somehow he also looked like she’d just slapped him. There was something...confused? Desperate?

…. _ Hurt? _

“YIN!”

The warehouse’s doors literally burst open at that moment, but even through the dust cloud that formed after, Yin would recognize that voice and that reckless display of violence anywhere. “YANG! Where were you!? You took forever!”

“Are you kidding me? ALL of the warehouses out there look EXACTLY the SAME!” The blue rabbit cracked his knuckles in Yuck’s direction; “Too bad for you, Yuck! I dunno how Yin got you to yell like that, but it made finding your hideout way easier!”

Yuck just stood there silently. 

“What, no comebacks?” While Yin stopped to stare at Yuck again, her brother didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss as he pulled out his sword. “ _ Weak _ , but who cares as long as we get to the fighting part faster!”

“No.”

“That’s right, you better get ready for-” Yang stopped waving his sword, frowning. “Wait, what do you  _ mean _ ‘no’?”

“Is the mush you call a brain clogging your ears or something?” Yuck snapped his fingers, and Yin froze as the Foo Field imprisoning her dissolved. But before she could react, she was encased in amber light and forcibly pushed right next to Yang. “I changed my mind. I’m not dealing with you two idiots today and I want you to get out.”

“But I JUST got here!”

“And you held me hostage for nearly TWO hours!” Still holding her book close to her chest, against her own judgement, Yin took a step forward. He was furious - and so was she - but for him it wasn’t his regular kind of angry. Why was he acting like this? Why was he angry at her?  _ Why did it bother her so much? _ “You know, just because  **_you_ ** didn’t like the ending doesn’t mean-”

“I SAID  **_GET OUT!_ ** ”

Another wave of amber magic - this time enveloping both of them - and before either twin could react, they were both thrown out the door. By the time Yin managed to get off the floor, the doors were already closed and locked tights.

“Oh come ON! I looked all over these dumb warehouses for nearly two hours and now I don’t even get to take my anger out on someone!?” Yang kicked a pebble at the door, and then turned to look at her. His eyes fell on the book in her hands, and realization dawned on him before turning to annoyance; “Wait, did you bore him with your nerdy books? No wonder he lost it- OW!”

“Shut up, Yang! I still can’t believe it took you TWO HOURS to find me!” Yin gave her brother another smack on the head with the book for good measure before turning to the door again. While Yang kept complaining in the background, she kept thinking back to Yuck’s reaction back there.

He had seemed so genuinely invested in her story, in her words, calmer than she ever recalled seeing him. And then he had gotten so irrationally angry at the end, at the revelation that the Beast was never really a beast.

….But why?

She looked down at her book, turning the pages until she frowned. She turned the pages faster, even turning the book upside down, but it only confirmed her fears. “Oh, come on!”

“What now?”

“....I think I dropped my favorite bookmark back there.”

OoOoOoOoO

Yuck could still hear them from inside the warehouse, but he didn’t care anymore. He was too busy pacing around, too busy trying to stay calm and failing. 

Of course Yin wouldn’t get it. Of course she wouldn’t understand why he’d be so upset. And maybe he  _ shouldn’t _ be upset; it was a stupid fairytale he had gotten himself excited for nothing. 

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid- _

A flash of pink on the floor caught his attention, and he walked over to pick it up. Decorated with glittery roses and hearts, it was the bookmark Yin had used on that book; that insufferable,  _ stupid _ book-

_ “Why would he want to stay a  _ **_beast!?_ ** _ ” _

“Of course.” He muttered as he watched the bookmark crumple under his grip, the smell of burnt cardboard and glitter filling his nostrils as a fire spell reduced it to ash. Petty, but still slightly rewarding. “Of  _ course. _ ”

He really should’ve known better.

Monsters didn’t get happy endings.


	6. Encouragement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yin finds comfort from the most unlikely source in the most unlikely way, Yuck is definitely not jealous, and Yang just wants to fight.

Villains caused evil deeds for a reason. Most wanted power and prestige, some did it for money and riches, others felt it’s what the world owed them. There were those that even did it because they genuinely had nothing else to do with their lives.

And while Yuck could relate to all of those reasons to a degree, he honestly enjoyed being evil because he just  _ could _ . And no one could stop him.

Like today.

There was no reason for him to attack the town on a Sunday morning. There was no prized artifact to steal, no dastardly plot under his sleeve; he’d just woken up in a great mood and felt like Transfoomating the power lines into electric eels just to see what would happen. Because he was a 12-year old with access to magic and no adult supervision, and he thought it would be fun.

And he’d been right.

Yuck cackled as he watched the townspeople scream and hide, scurrying like rats while trying to avoid the rabid eels. He sat by the edge of the convenience store’s rooftop, idly eating potato chips -  _ stolen, _ of course - as he watched the mayhem unfold down below with the same elation any other child would have for the circus.

He nearly choked on his chips and slapped as his knee as a guy trying to run away tripped on the fountain instead, more eels hissing and slipping after him.

Nothing like the screams of civilians and the smell of burnt sushi in the morning.

And yet…..something was still missing. Watching chaos unfold was only so much fun when he  _ only _ watched, but there was no point in picking a fight with the townspeople himself if he already knew none of them would be a worthy opponent. He needed a REAL challenge, something to bring out his A-game, just like-

“Stop right there, Yuck!”

Aaaaaaand right on cue.

Yuck smiled, throwing the now empty bag of chips over his shoulder and summoning his sword as he turned around. Any other day, Yin and Yang appearing would’ve been a pain since it meant them interfering with his plans again. But since today he was all about mindless, self-indulging violence, he felt confident in his ability to beat them both into the ground (and even if he lost….well, it would suck but he’d still make sure to cause them as much trouble for it as he could).

“About time you dipsticks showed up! It was getting boring around here, but destroying you once and for all should fix that!”

“In your dreams, booger-face!” Yang was his obnoxiously confident self as usual, his own sword in hand as he pointed it at Yuck. “We’re the ones who’re gonna have fun kicking your sorry butt to the curb for making us work on a Sunday! Right, sis?”

“Eh.”

Yin appeared behind Yang, but there was no snarky quip from her. No magic spell being prepared, not even a single cheese, heroic proclamation about how he’d never get away with this. Instead, Yin had the most indifferent, apathetic expression on her face.

“I said,” Her brother kept trying to keep a defiant stance, but frustration was visible in his eyes as he hissed through his teeth; “We’re gonna have fun kicking Yuck’s butt to the curb,  _ right?! _ ”

“Eh.”

Yuck’s smile dropped.

This wasn’t like Yin at all. Yin was always the one who got on his nerves, tricking him and ruining his plans at the last minute. Which was infuriating! But this; this was even more infuriating because she wasn’t even trying! She was just…..standing there! “HEY! What’s your sister’s deal?”

“None of your business!” Realizing his act was useless, Yang dropped it and turned to shake Yin’s shoulders. “Listen, I’ve been trying to be nice about this but it’s been a week! A WEEK! Can you just snap out of it already!?”

“Eh.”

Yang’s ears lowered, and the worry on his face nearly made Yuck stare before it turned back into frustration. “ _ FINE! _ Keep moping, then! I’ll do this on my own!” He focused back on Yuck, holding his sword up high; “CHI! WOO! WAH!”

Green clashed with orange; Yang kept swinging left and right, high and low, putting his all into every blow. Not that it mattered to Yuck, who parried every blow with his own sword, not even bothering to swing back or even look at him.

Instead, he kept looking over his shoulder at Yin. She just remained there, looking miserable.

“HEY! Are you even paying attention!?” Yang stepped back to make some distance between them, and turned his sword into nun-chucks. “I’ll teach you to ignore me!”

But once again, orange stopped green; this time, Yang’s nun-chucks got entangled into Yuck’s staff. And while Yang struggled to untangle them, Yuck didn’t even budge as he kept staring at Yin.

She wasn’t even  _ looking _ at their fight.

“Alright, THAT’S IT!” Giving up on his weapons, Yang pushed his way through with a fist aimed at Yuck’s face; “Get ready to eat my-”

Yuck simply stepped aside and tripped him. And before he could recover, a beam of orange magic wrapped itself around him like a cocoon and rendered him immobile. Confused, Yang struggled to break free but the magic bindings refused to budge. “H-hey! That’s not fair-!”

“You.” Yuck’s voice was a low growl as he pointed his staff at Yang’s nose. “Shut up.”

Yang audibly gulped. With him subdued, Yuck pointed at Yin instead; “And you. Spill the beans. Now.”

She’d actually looked concerned for a second over her brother - at least she wasn’t _ completely _ out of it, then - but when she turned to look at Yuck’s weapon, all he saw was bitterness. “Oh, so YOU’RE gonna lecture me too?  _ Really? _ Why should I even talk to  _ you? _ ”

“Cuz we’re here to fight! That’s what I’ve been looking forward to, and you’re ruining it by...by acting like a baby!” Yin’s expression soured even more, but Yuck didn’t care and pushed the staff’s point closer to her. “You don’t get to ruin my fight now by moping! How do you expect me to enjoy destroying you if you don’t even fight back!?”

“Sensitive as always, Yuck.”

“Snap at me all you want; at least we’re making progress.” The staff lit up in green flames, but Yin didn’t even blink; it just made him angrier. “Listen; I won’t stop pestering you until you tell me what’s going on! And I can promise you that at this rate, NO ONE’S gonna be happy by the end of the day, so out with it already!”

For a while, she kept glaring between him and his staff in silence. Scoffing, she pushed the flaming weapon away from her face with a skin-level Foo Field over her hand; “Yeah, well, you’re crazy if you think I’m gonna go along with your little therapist game-”

“She was dumped.”

Both rabbits turned their heads to Yang; Yuck with his eyebrows raised, Yin with a bright red face and daggers in her eyes; _ “YANG-” _

“A week, Yin! You’ve been like this for a WEEK!” Yang shot back, still struggling to break free but ending up looking like a worm instead. “He was gonna find out anyways, so can we at least get it over with?!”

“Wait, dumped? As in  _ date _ dumped?” A flick of his wrist, and the flaming staff was gone; “You were dating someone?”

“And what if I was?” Yin snarled, turning her daggers towards him instead; “What, you think cuz you tricked me into dating you once that I’m not allowed to date anyone else?!”

“W-what!? I didn’t-! Where did I even come from!?” Yuck’s temper flared at the accusation….along with another, stranger feeling. A feeling that surely had nothing to do with the idea of Yin dating other people after the Brett Incident. Why would he care about what his sort-of-ex did in her free time? It’s not like he was jealous.  **_Absolutely not._ **

“I still don’t see why you’re still moping about that guy! He was a tool, anyways.”

“He was NOT!” Yin kicked his brother while he was still on the ground; not hard enough to really hurt him, but enough to send him rolling and make his blue fur turn greener. “Dylan was sweet, and cool, and he volunteered to pick up trash at the beach on weekends! Do you know how hard it is to find a guy who cares about the environment!?”

“I-”

“We were soulmates! He was the ONE! Everything was going great between us, but then he....” There was a moment of hesitation, something that felt completely out of place with the Yin Yuck knew. “He said I was…. **too** intense.”

Yuck crossed his arms. “Too intense.”

“It’s all Carl’s fault anyways, crashing our date like that!” Yin spat, now pacing in circles as she kept rambling; “I mean, I still kicked his butt, and I thought Dylan would be impressed! But then he said I was too violent, and that I would ‘harsh up his vibes’ or something with an attitude like that if we kept dating, and...and…!”

She stopped, and for a second Yuck was convinced she’d explode. What he didn’t expect was for her to get all teary eyed. “A-and I know I shouldn’t be s-so upset over him, and I k-know it’s stupid, but I can’t get what he said out of my mind a-and-”

“You’re both stupid.”

The way Yin seethed at him would’ve been funny any other time. And even down on the floor, Yuck felt Yang struggle by his feet in a sad attempt to kick him. He didn’t even flinch when her hands lit up red with an impending Yincinerate; “You stupid, heartless JERK! I don’t even know why I bothered-”

“He’s stupid for breaking up with you for such a dumb reason,” Yuck deadpanned, “And you’re stupid for letting a schmuck like him get you like this for a  _ whole week. _ ”

Yin hesitated. Her eyes were still narrowed at Yuck, but the red in her hands died down. Even Yang stopped struggling on the floor.

“‘Too intense’? Seriously, did that guy even bother knowing you?” Yuck snorted, now the one circling Yin as he kept talking. “You’re a Woo Foo warrior, intense doesn’t even  _ begin  _ to describe you. You’re stubborn, and nosy, and if someone gets in your way you kick them out first. And I should know.”

“.........”

“I mean, really! I tricked you into dating me so I could steal your Woo Foo, and what did you do? You STOLE them _BACK!_ And there’s the time you tricked me at Pong’s Market, and when you shrunk me out of existence, and when you set the Golden Pants against me! All those times you stopped me basically on your own, and….and….” He laughed incredulously again, but inside he was fuming. And worst of all, he wasn’t even furious at _her_ like he should’ve definitely been. “And some wimpy **_nobody’s_** what makes you cry because he says you’re ‘ _too intense_ ’? Cuz _he_ can’t handle you!? Geez Yin, where’s your pride!?”

She had remained quiet through his rant, a strange look replacing her anger. Even after he was done talking, she just stared at him with that same strange look, feet shuffling. “It still hurts.” She whined, wrapping her arms around herself; “Everyone - Yang, Master Yo, my friends - they keep telling me he isn’t worth thinking about and I know they say it cuz they care, but I’m still hurt and...and  **_angry_ ** , and I hate having to bottle it all up-”

“Then STOP doing it??” Yuck shook his head; Yin’s logic kept baffling him, it was incomprehensible to him. “If you’re angry, then let it out! If you hate feeling so miserable then actually do something about it instead of feeling sorry for yourself!”

Another pause, with Yin staring at an exasperated Yuck. Yang, still on the floor, kept looking from one to the other, waiting for either to make the first move like a cowboy standoff.

“....Wow.” Yin shook her head, but - and maybe it was a trick of the light, or Yuck was imagining things - there was a small smile on her lips. “You definitely need work on your pep talks.”

“That  _ wasn’t _ a pep talk!” Yuck’s frustration flared up again as he looked away, hoping neither of his enemies would notice the heat that flared on his cheeks. “You’re the one that keeps beating  _ me _ in battle, so if you let someone inferior get to you that easily then what does that say about me?”

“....Whatever you say.” She said, but there was none of the previous apathy in her tone. And suddenly he saw it; that infuriating, stubborn spark in her eyes that he’d seen plenty of times before in all of their battles as magic lit up in her hands again. “You know what? Might as well take your advice and let my anger out. On  **_you_ ** . By throwing you into your own eels, since you want a fight so badly.”

And even though he should’ve hated that spark in her, that spark that always led to his defeat - and would probably do so again in this fight too - in that moment, it was the greatest sight he could ask of. His urge to fight restored, Yuck’s own magic reflected off his shark-like grin. “Oh, you’re welcome to  _ try. _ ”

“Wait, don’t leave me here-!” But it was too late; Yin and Yuck had taken to the sky, blasting each other with Magic and leaving a still bound Yang on the rooftop. And struggle as he might, he still couldn’t break free, having no choice but to watch the other two rabbits fight without him.

Well, he just hoped neither of them would hear him. 

  
“Being the third wheel  _ sucks. _ ”


	7. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Luck's past pays him an unexpected visit and Yin realizes there's more to his story, just not in ways she expected (continued from Flowers).

“C’mon, you gotta admit at least that it’s creepy.”

“You mean the way you’ve been staring at him all morning?” Yin didn’t bother looking away from her book, idly turning the pages as she levitated by the exit out to the training yard. “Oh yeah,  _ that’s _ definitely creepy.”

“Ha ha, VERY funny.” Even without looking at him, she could picture Yang still in the same position he’d been in all day: hunched by the stairs, hands over his eyes to block out the sun while he glared in the direction of their new garden, also not looking at her while he talked; “You know what I mean! Just look at him gardening; since when does  _ Yuck _ garden!?”

“Since he stopped being Yuck and became Luck instead.”

“Oh great, YOU too?” Yin rolled her eyes as she buried her face even more in her book; she could also picture Yang’s annoyed stare clearly in her mind. “The townspeople and even Master Yo are bad enough, but you? Don’t tell me you’re falling for it too!”

“Yang, come on, it’s been a month. Not even Yuck would keep up an act THAT long.” At this point Yin was just staring at the words, not actually reading them as she thought back on the events of the last month. She could understand why her brother was so unnerved; Yuck - or rather,  _ Luck _ \- had really taken a 180° turn in personality. “I mean, remember how he tried to get Herman to turn over a new leaf last week and he nearly ripped his limbs off instead? No way the old Yuck would’ve taken a hit to his pride like that just for the sake of  _ pretending. _ ”

“Amnesia? Or maybe hypnosis on himself?? Or maybe he hired a body double while he’s working on his evil schemes right under our noses-”

“Or maybe he’s really changed.” She now visualized Luck working in his garden; the way he took care of the flowers so gently, humming softly to himself with that glimmer in his sunset eyes that she still couldn’t stop thinking about- “I mean, what if he’s a good guy for real? Wouldn’t that be better for everyone? Having him as an ally instead of an enemy? So why not just let him?”

“Oh  _ sure _ , the embodiment of our negative traits,  _ a good guy _ . You’re just saying that cuz he gave YOU a gift. Honestly Yin, you’re so easy to-”

“OK, you know what?” Closing her book loudly, Yin finally looked up and glared at her brother, still overlooking the yard with his back on her. “No,  _ please _ , finish your sentence. Give me a good reason to throw my book at the back of your big head and hope I’ll knock some sense into you. Or at least knock you out and make you  _ shut up- _ ”

“Who’s that?”

Yin stopped mid-rant, lowering her book as she stared at Yang. She hadn’t noticed until that moment, but her brother was completely still, voice lowered to a whisper. Curious, she turned her head in the direction Yang was staring.

She couldn’t even tell who they were; the dark cloak they wore covered them from head to toe, only showing blue bony hands peeking out of the sleeves. Even their face was completely obscured by their hood; they were only a giant scythe away from a full Grim Reaper getup. And they were approaching Luck, who was still tending to his garden and had picked that exact moment to look up.

And Luck had kept on surprising her for the last weeks, offering a smile and a helping hand to literally every living soul he ran into - even villainous ones. Which is why she was genuinely shocked when he saw him freeze instead. Just standing in place, the flowers he had been uprooting falling out of his hands.

Was he….. _ scared? _

“I  _ knew _ it! I was right!”

Yang’s triumphant whisper brought back Yin’s attention: her brother, still staring, was literally rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “What are you even talking about? How does THIS prove you right?”

“Uh, hello? Mysterious stranger wearing a creepy cloak? That’s like, textbook villain looks!” His ears perked, and then he turned to Yin with a smug smile as he jabbed a thumb in the garden’s direction; “And guess who they’re getting all chummy with?”

“What?” She turned her head and saw Luck and the figure talking. The green rabbit was no longer frozen is place - had she imagined that? - and while he was facing away from them, she could still tell from his body language that it was friendly conversation. Familiar, even. “Wait, they  _ know _ each other?”

“DUH! Of course they know each other, they’re bad guys!” Yang was now right next to her, pushing her slightly aside to get a better look at the conversation much to her annoyance; “I’ll bet you anything he’s Yuck’s new partner in crime! And now they’re here for the final step of their evil plan, and no one suspecting a thing-”

But Yin zoned out the rest of Yang’s conspiracy theories, gaze still fixated on the hooded figure. Every once in a while, her connection to Magic let her fell disturbances in the Foo. Sometimes it was over something trivial like Master Yo having bowel problems, but sometimes there would be something deeper, something genuinely  _ sinister _ , lurking underneath. And whoever Luck was speaking to made her feel a disturbance like _ no other.  _ “Yang, maybe we should tell Master Yo about this-”

“And have him blow us off again? He’s not gonna believe us!” But something snapped Yang out of his sulking, and he snapped his fingers. “Unless we show him the evidence! He’s gotta believe us after this! Do you know where we left the camcorder?”

“Yang…”

“You’re right, it’s faster if I just start looking!” And before she could stop him, Yang had fled back into the dojo as quickly yet as silently as he could; “You keep an eye on them! And if you see them do something evil, make sure they keep doing it when I come back!”

Yin rolled her eyes as the door closed behind her, turning to look over at the garden again. Whatever those two were talking to, it was enough to distract them for realizing she was even there, but she couldn’t make out anything from where she stood and if she tried getting closer they would definitely notice her. 

And while she didn’t want to believe that Luck was still a bad guy - mostly because she genuinely believed she was good now, but also because otherwise it would prove she had let him trick her  _ again _ \- there was something about that figure that just made her skin crawl. The last thing she wanted was for them to see her.

Wait,  _ see _ her….

“Yinvisibility.”

Yin’s body glowed an opaque blue, her fur becoming more and more transparent until she could see just barely see the outline of her own arm - and that would be only her; nobody else would see if the spell had been performed correctly. Now that she was sure she’d go unnoticed, she walked down the stairs and towards the garden until she was right behind Luck.

“.....idn’t expect you.” Luck sounded surprised, but not unpleasantly so. Or at least that’s how he sounded, because Yin still noticed he kept running his fingers through his neatly combed fur almost nervously. “If I knew you were coming, I would’ve prepared accordingly-”

“Which is exactly why the International House of Peaceful Readjustment didn’t let you know.” The voice behind the hood was the very definition of neutral; Yin couldn’t tell if they were happy or upset, young or old, male or female. It was completely devoid of emotion, and it made her skin crawl. “It would defeat the purpose of checking your progress if you knew one of us was coming. Your new self is not something to be  _ rehearsed _ , is it?”

“N-no, of course not!” Luck laughed, but as Yin stood by his side to take a better look at his face, she noticed his pupils had shrunk. “You’re absolutely right, like always! Uh…” He looked around him and noticing the flowers he had dropped, he picked a rose among them and offered it to the hooded figure. “Want one? Grew them myself.”

As the figure inspected the flower in their hand - holding it with the tips of their fingernails like a dead mouse - something resonated in Yin’s memory. International House of Peaceful Readjustment? A name that long and specific was hard to forget; Luck had mentioned that he’d been taken there by ‘reformed Grim Reapers’ to give up on his evil ways when he first appeared as his new self. 

_ So Luck’s really a good guy now, and these guys made him that way. _

While the first thought was relieving, she was still on the fence about the second one.

“Why gardening?”

The reaper’s voice brought her back to reality. Luck, on the other hand, laughed sheepishly as he untangled his fingers from his fur. “I’ve gotten that a lot lately. I just think it’s neat, getting to grow and care for things rather than destroy them. Give something back to the world, you know? And it helps me relax, too.”

“...I see.” The reaper was still fixated on the rose, and was now examining its thorns with the other hand. “An...endearing pursuit. But ultimately selfish, don’t you think?”

Luck’s face immediately fell, ears pressing flat against his head. “I’m sorry?”

“Flowers are beautiful, but fleeting. They die so quickly, and so easily.” They pinched a thorn between their thumb and index finger and pulled, plucking it off the stem and leaving a pale blemish. “In the same way, the happiness it gives you is just as fleeting. The gift you give to the world is only temporary. If you really want to make a positive impact as a changed person, don’t you think you can do better than that?”

Yin felt anger slowly rising in her at those words. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the greatest display of heroism, but Luck had worked hard taking care of those flowers! He LOVED those flowers, and that was definitely not fleeting. And seeing them pluck out the rose’s thorns one by one, she recalled something he had told her before; how the thorns were part of the rose’s beauty, even when they hurt you. She could see what he meant now as she watched them decimate the rose’s stem, leaving those blemishes behind like open wounds.

Wasn’t Luck even going to defend his work? She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and her stomach lurked. The green rabbit beside her had gotten pale, cowering with his eyes fixated on the rose the reaper kept tearing apart. That expression of borderline terror looked out of place on Yuck. It looked out of place on  _ Luck _ . 

“I...I wasn’t….I didn’t think-”

“Moving on.” The reaper didn’t let him finish, tucking the now thornless rose into their sleeve. Luck immediately stood up straight, visibly struggling to remain calm. “This place. You mentioned there were...individuals you had to make amends with. Is this where they live?”

“Y-yes!” Luck’s voice came out a little too high-pitched, and he coughed before continuing in a more controlled voice. “I-I mean, yes, this is where I live now. With my fellow Woo Foo Warriors, who I’ve wronged in the past but I’m doing my very best to make it up to them!”

“So they’ve accepted you, after everything you did.” A strange, unsettling noise came from behind the hood. Was that supposed to be...laughter? “How truly gracious of them, considering what a vile, disgusting fiend you were before we found you. You better be grateful to them.”

Whatever confidence Luck had managed to get back deflated once again. As he bowed down his head in shame, Yin’s anger burned brighter; Yuck had been a truly awful person and  _ she  _ of all people knew that better than anyone, but he wasn’t like that anymore! He didn’t deserve to be treated like that; no one did.

If all reapers were like this one, she couldn’t understand how they were responsible for someone as sweet and kind as Luck.

“You mentioned their names before….Yin and Yang, wasn’t it?” Hearing their names said out loud in that monotone, empty voice made her shudder; “How are they like? Do you get along?”

“Well...I think Yang still hasn’t warmed up to me yet.” Luck’s voice was much quieter now, gaze still aimed at his own feet. He gave a weak laugh, but sobered up once again when he got no answer. “I mean, I can’t really blame him, can I? But he’s a good guy; he’s brave, he’s assertive, and I know he does it because he’s looking out for his sister and master. I know I can get through to him if I keep trying.”

His words made Yin’s eyes soften. That’s what he thought of Yang? All while her brother kept insisting that he was evil, basically waiting for Luck to mess up and get any excuse to literally kick him out? He was still looking for that camcorder in hopes of getting evidence  _ against _ him, and he was none the wiser.

“And Yin?”

Luck stiffened, and it made Yin’s ears lower. Why had he reacted like that? She saw him raise his head to meet the reaper’s non-existent gaze, looking hesitant. Was it that bad? 

“Yin? Oh, Yin’s  _ wonderful! _ ” But to her complete surprise, his expression lit up, a shy smile showing off his sharp teeth. “She’s kind, and sweet, and so confident! She loves flowers and much as I do, and she knows what she wants, and her favorite animal are puppygriffs, and-!”

She stared dumbfoundedly as Luck kept going, slowly coming out of his shell with growing excitement while listing more and more things he liked about her. She felt her own cheeks turn warm; she couldn’t recall anyone talking about her with so much admiration, not even Coop (and when Coop talked about her like that, it came off as  **creepy** rather than genuine).

“And...and if I was a fraction of how good she is…” His puppy-like excitement mellowed out, and the soft expression in his eyes - oh, his  _ eyes _ , they had never looked more like the sun until that moment - made her heart do a flip. She couldn’t tell what emotion he was experiencing right then and there, but it made her feel warm. “If I had the tiniest fraction of all the love she holds in her heart...it’d be more than enough.”

“...I see.”

The garden fell silent. The warmth in Luck’s eyes turned into apprehension again, and Yin found herself standing between him and the reaper, pointless as it was since she was invisible. The reaper wasn’t even looking at Luck; they had their hood raised towards the sky, watching the birds fly by as the sun began to set. 

“We can tell that you’ve made progress. The House is pleased with your efforts.” And yet their empty voice showed no such thing. Not that Luck seemed to mind, judging by the relieved sigh he let out - not of happiness or accomplishment, of  _ relief. _

_ Why was he so on edge around the people that had helped him become a better person? _

“However.”

Both Yin and Luck’s relief was short-lived as the reaper turned to look at him again - and although she knew her Yinvisibility spell was still active, she could swear they were staring right at her, too. “There is still plenty of room for improvement. Even with our help, your true nature is not so easily forgotten. There is much you still need to do to prove your worth.”

The rose was pulled out from under their sleeve, held high for Luck to see. And to his - and her - horror, it slowly began to wilt, pink petals - the same hue as her fur - growing brown and decayed until they all fell off. 

“It would be a shame for all of your efforts to go to waste,” the reaper’s voice was as stone cold and emotionless as ever as they crushed the wilted stem into dust in their hand; “all because of such fleeting  _ distractions. _ ”

A pitiful wail came out of Luck’s throat, as if they had crushed his heart in their palm instead. Kneeling on the floor, he reached out to the pile of dust that used to be his flower with a shaking hand, but the shadow that loomed over him made him cower back. 

“Remember your lessons, child:” A bony hand pointed right into the hood, where the reaper’s mouth would probably be; “Keep smiling, no matter what. But not too much in your case; there’s no comfort to be found in those  _ ghastly _ teeth of yours.”

Luck’s face twitched, his lips trying to form a smile through his oncoming tears that ended up looking more like a grimace. Both hands clamped over his mouth as another wail came out, and with shaky legs he fled back into the dojo. And Yin watched him go, her mind screaming to chase after him or at turn around as set this jerk’s robes on fire yet refusing to budge-

“He said you were nice. But eavesdropping on other people’s conversations without their knowledge isn’t a nice thing to do, is it?”

Her blood turned to ice. Slowly, she turned around and saw the reaper’s pitch black hood stare at her. Not through her, right at her. Words stuck in her throat, her first instinct was too look down at her hands.

They were still translucent. 

“We assume you did it out of concern like your brother. Concern for your family or for him, that we do not know. But we still forgive you.” They took a step closer, and Yin took a step back. Why couldn’t she respond? Why couldn’t she fight? Why were her instincts screaming at her to run for her life? “But that’s a terrible habit to keep, regardless of your intentions.”

They leaned down, still towering over her, their silhouette blocking out the sky. And even though the inside of their hood was still pitch black even that up close, Yin could almost picture a smile crystal clear in her mind. 

“At the International House of Peaceful Readjustment, we would be delighted to help you with that.”

And then, without another word, they straightened and headed for the entrance like nothing had happened. And Yin simply stood there, color spreading across her body as Yinvisibility wore off, eyes never looking away as they disappeared behind the doors without a sound.

Light faded away as night fell. 

“YIN! What did I tell you!?” She heard Yang’s voice, but it sounded so far away. Even as she felt him grab her shoulder and made her turn around. “Yuck nearly ran into me, hands on his mouth like he ate a bug or something, and-!”

Frustration became surprise, and surprise became concern. “Yin?” Both of Yang’s shoulders rested on her shoulders, but it’s like she barely felt them. “Sis? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Looking at him like what? Why did Yang look so worried? He never showed emotion like that, not unless things were really bad-

Her face felt cold. She raised a hand to her cheek.

_ Ah. _

  
“Yang.” Even through her tears, Yin’s voice sounded unusually calm. She thought of that reaper, and she  **hated** it. She hated the memory of the look in Luck's eyes even more. “ _ Now  _ we really need to talk to Master Yo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to my good friend The Resurrection 3D...........Sanatorium/repression solidarity


	8. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuck learns about grooming the hard way and Yin sees another side of him the...not so hard way (fanfic prompt on Tumblr).

“I’m gonna dunk that rat head-first into a toilet.”

“Incredible. We’re being held captive and you’re still mad about your FUR?” Yin didn’t even bother turning around, still trying to burn a hole out of their hypoallergenic bubble prison. Whatever it was made of, Fastidious had done his homework since none of her Woo Foo spells so far seemed to work.

“And not just any toilet, ohhhh no, it’s gonna be a gas station toilet. And when I’m done, I’ll pull him out with a used plunger to the _face_. And _**then** -_”

Cursing under her breath, Yin gave up and took a step back. After almost an hour of blasting the bubble walls with magic, all she had to show for it were slightly singed marks and nothing else. Gritting her teeth, she turned on her heel to glare at the other rabbit from across their prison. “You could HELP, you know!”

* * *

Yuck just glared back, curled up in his own side of the bubble, teeth bared as he pulled on his fur - not the usual dull, dirty green, but an immaculate shade of aquamarine. And yet it was even more of a mess than usual; an unruly nest of knots that Yuck kept pulling on, scowl deepening as his fingers came out with clumps of hair entangled in them.

“So you got a bath; big deal!” Yin kept talking as she took a step closer, hands on her hips; “It’s not gonna kill you to be clean for ONE day! So stop being such a baby and help me get out of here-“

“You think this is funny?!” Yin’s ears lowered over the volume in Yuck’s voice. He’d gotten to his feet, taking a threatening step forward as she took one back. “Do you have any idea how horrible this feels!? I’m cold, my skin itches, my fur’s all twisted up and it feels WRONG!”

Yin scoffed with a shake of her head, but didn’t say anything else as she watched Yuck brush his unruly fur. It was blatantly obvious that Yuck didn’t know the first thing about grooming, which frustrated her to no end as someone who cared maybe a little _too_ much.

It wasn’t until he let out a loud hiss, an even bigger clump of fur stuck to his claws, that she decided she had enough.

“Stop doing that! You’re gonna get bald at this rate.” Yin was still mad at him, but seeing Yuck basically tear off his own fur like that wasn’t something she wanted to see. She closed the gap between them and held his hand before he put it in his fur again; “You don’t take baths, I don’t know why it surprises me that you don’t know how to brush your own fur, either...”

She was too distracted to notice the way Yuck had frozen in place, staring holes into her hand holding his with a mixture of outrage, surprise and...something else. But the sizeable knot of aquamarine fur atop his head was what caught her eye, and without thinking she reached out to smooth it down.

Yuck pulled his head back, baring his teeth like a cornered dog. Yin pulled back her own hand before shooting a glare of her own. “Listen, you were the one making a big deal about your hair! It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you!”

“ _I_ don’t know that.”

The accusatory tone in Yuck’s voice made her do a double take. Yuck wasn’t even as angry as he was wary, still suspiciously eyeing her hand like he expected her to punch him. It was then that she realized she’d overstepped his boundaries, a slight blush of embarrassment spreading across her face.

“OK, look, this is clearly bothering you and now it’s even bothering me, too. Just let me help you so we can both get out of here.” This time, Yuck was the one to take a step back as Yin took one forward, and the sight made her eyes soften. “Please. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I’ll make it quick.”

He hesitated for a long time; he still didn’t seem completely convinced by her words, yet eventually he leaned his head closer to her, eyes shut tight. “If you try anything, I WILL bite your fingers off.”

She just rolled her eyes before raising both of her hands, holding Yuck’s head in place while her left one dug into that knot she’d been trying to untangle earlier-

_Sweet Shooda his fur was SO soft._

It wasn’t at all what Yin expected; she was used to seeing his fur all rough and dirty, and even though it was clean now she didn’t expect it to feel this soft. Longer than hers or Yang’s fur, Yuck’s was almost downy this way, like baby fur. She had no idea how he had so much trouble untangling it, because it basically gave away under her fingers with only the slightest of pulls, almost like putting her hand through water.

And she had to hand it to Fastidious; it smelled nice, too. Kinda lemony. She made a mental note to ask him what brand of shampoo he’d used before kicking his butt.

And as she gently combed her way through Yuck’s fur, she noticed other changes; Yuck’s tense posture had relaxed, and his angry, scrunched up expression - like he was expecting to be attacked at any moment - had visibly softened. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve sworn he’d fallen asleep, would’ve sworn he was actually leaning against her touch.

...

Wait a minute.

 _Purring?_ Yin’s hand froze. She could definitely hear it now; a low rumbling coming out of Yuck, she could almost _feel_ it. _Is Yuck really **purring** right now?_

Because rabbits could purr when happy just like cats could; the reason it wasn’t as well known was because rabbits only did it when they were REALLY happy. And if Yuck was purring...

 _Because I’m brushing his fur? His sworn enemy? While we’re trapped? Talk about low standards._ And yet the moment she thought that, a pang of sadness struck her; if **_this_** was enough to make him purr up a storm, then clearly happiness didn’t come easy to him. And somehow that was sadder than she could articulate.

“OK, done!” She pulled her hands faster than she meant to, and Yuck nearly toppled over with such short notice. “NOW can you help me get out of here?”

However, Yuck didn’t seem to react fast enough. He was still blinking the sleepiness away, his hand running through the fur atop his head. It was still tousled, but now the fur fell down in wavy aquamarine strands rather than all bunched up in knots. And that, coupled with the innocently confused look on his face, he almost seemed...

It was weird, how easily it was to forget he was a kid, too.

“Yuck...?”

“I, uh...” He cleared his throat, lowering his hands and avoiding looking at Yin in the eye. His voice was uncharacteristically soft. “That was.....nice. Thanks, I guess.” 

“You’re welcome. _I guess._ ” She played it off as a joke, but why was her face so warm? Why couldn’t she stop staring at him? Why did she still want to run her fingers through that soft fur again so badly? She didn’t want to feel like this. “But, uh, bubble prison? Clean-obsessed hamster? Think you can give me a hand?”

She saw him blink again, saw the recognition in his eyes as he remembered where they were and why. And just like that, that strange and soft expression was replaced by the usual anger and malice she associated with Yuck. 

Why was she disappointed?

“I’m still gonna flush that rat straight into the sewers.” He growled as he stood beside her, facing the burn she’d left previously on the wall as his hands lit up with orange magic. He paused for a second, then stared at Yin from the corner of his vision, and there was no softness there. “You better think twice before telling anyone what happened, got it?”

She didn’t answer that. Her own hands lighting up blue, she swallowed down her disappointment. Like she _always_ did. “Let’s just get out of here.”


	9. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuck gets hurt in an unexpected way, and Yin has an unexpected cure.

“If something happens, just yell.”

“I heard you just fine the first  _ ten _ times, Yang.” Yin rolled her eyes with a smile as she levitated closer to the infirmary bed. In her hands she held a small notebook, ticking off item after item from the list Master Yo had given them on first aid care while he was out buying groceries. Once the last thing was checked and accounted for, she glanced over her shoulder at her brother, standing by the door. “I already told you, it’s fine. I can defend myself, you know.”

Her words did little to appease Yang, who kept hovering by the door and fidgeting anxiously. “Yeah, I know. That’s not the problem, though.” His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head, looking behind his sister with a scowl; “ _ He _ is.”

Yin’s smile faded as she followed her brother’s gaze towards the infirmary bed, currently occupied by a certain green rabbit she’d been seeing way too much of recently. Yuck was unconscious at the moment, a spot of bright aquamarine against the pristine white of the whole room; it was so strange, seeing him so...still. She knew that sleep was something all living things needed to a degree, but somehow picture Yuck being calm enough to fall asleep was harder than she expected.

“Why are WE stuck babysitting one of our sworn enemies, anyways?”

“Uh, because we’re the good guys and we couldn’t just leave him lying there?”  _ Specially not when it was my fault he got knocked out. _

From the corner of her vision she saw blue approaching her side; Yang stared at the bed with crossed arms, body all tense as if waiting - daring - for the green rabbit to wake up and ambush them at any second. “I still don’t see why WE have to help HIM, after everything’s he’s put us through. It’s not like he’d do the same for us.”

_ ….Huh. Good point. _

“Maybe not, but that’s why we’re the good guys.” Yin levitated closer to the ground so she could be at eye level with Yang; “Besides, think about it; if we keep an eye on him, we can make sure he doesn’t do anything bad, right? And it’s only until he gets better; it’s not like he’s moving in or anything.”

“Fine. But I’ll still complain to Master Yo about it!” Yin snorted, then covered her mouth; luckily, the most she got out of Yuck was a murmur as he rolled over to the other side. And at least she got a smile out of her brother too, but it didn’t last long as he gave their enemy one last glare before heading out. He only stopped by the door to look back at her with concern -  _ real _ concern - in his eyes. “Look, just...just be careful, OK?”

“For the last time, I’ll be fine! You should be more worried about going to sleep now so you don’t get all cranky on me when it’s your turn to watch over him later.”

Concern turned into a pout, and Yin nearly snorted again when Yang stuck out his tongue at her before running off. Even though he was already gone, she couldn’t help but sticking out her tongue as well, but once she was sure he was gone, her smile turned into a slight frown. Why was it that Yang  _ only _ became friendlier and just easier to talk to when he thought she was in danger? It could be so frustrating sometimes...but it was better than nothing, she supposed.

Well, that wasn’t something she wanted to think about for the next few hours, so she levitated back up, closer to the desk near the bed where she’d placed all the stuff she’d picked out beforehand to distract herself with - books, paper and color pencils, her toys. And yet she still found herself looking away from her things and towards the still sleeping rabbit in the room.

It was incredible really, how even asleep Yuck managed to stay angry. And even more interesting was the way he slept; he wasn’t lying on his back or his side like people normally did, but rather he was curled in on himself, nose twitching, lip slightly curled and tongue barely poking out between his front teeth, leg occasionally twitching. He wasn’t a big rabbit to begin with, and somehow seeing him curled up like that made him look even smaller.

_ He looks like a puppygriff. _ Yin mused to herself, her own lip twitching with the beginning of a smile.  _ A very angry, mangy puppygriff. _

Yuck suddenly shuddered in his sleep, uncurling his body a bit, and that’s when Yin focused on the bandages around his ( _unusually_ _thin_ , to her alarm), arms and chest.

She stopped.

Master Yo had gently washed his fur before dressing his head injury - the reason he was stuck with them in the first place (leaving it as it was would’ve risked infection, he’d told her), so it was back to a bright shade of aquamarine just like when they’ve been held prisoner by Fastidious. But under the bandages, she could see the aquamarine fade into various shades of purple, red and yellow, marred by various cuts and scars of varying degrees of severity (most of them seemed small and shallow enough, but the ones peeking out from underneath the wrappings...).

It wasn’t like Yin herself was a stranger to injuries and scars. She and Yang faced the forces of evil on pretty much a daily basis; to come out unscathed was virtually impossible. And she knew for a fact that a couple of those scars had  _ Yuck’s _ name written all over them. But the injuries Yuck had - even just what very little she could see at the moment - they just didn’t seem to line up with the kind of fights they’d get in with him. Sure, he DID try to maim them, but that didn’t mean they’d do the same-

**_We_ ** _ didn’t give him  _ **_those_ ** _ , did we…? _

  
  


From the bandages on his arms, she moved on to the ones wrapped around his head, covering his forehead and his left eye. The events of earlier that day replayed in her head.

They’d been fighting downtown. Her and Yang versus Yuck, like any other day. Except Yuck had started firing magic wildly, causing all kinds of damage and trapping civilians in the crossfire. Yin had turned her back for a few moments to try and help them, leaving Yang to face Yuck alone.

By the time she turned around, Yuck had her brother pinned down, sword over his head, a scarily triumphant look in his eyes.

Anger flooded her mind. The Foo Orb flew out of her hand before she even realized it.

But she had meant to hit him in the chest, to push him away or stun him. She didn’t mean to aim for the head, to make his eyes go blank and make him crumple soundlessly to the floor the way he did-

“I hate that you keep doing this.”

Yin’s voice was quiet, but her hands were balled into fists at her sides. The more she looked at Yuck, the less concern and the more frustration she felt. “You keep doing this….this THING!” She growled, not realizing (or caring) how loud she was getting. Other memories replayed in her mind: Yuck helping her practice Foo Fortress in the forest, defending her back then at the burger joint, consoling her (in his own weird way) when Dylan broke up with her… “This thing where you actually get me thinking you’re not just some meathead, heartless jerk! That maybe -  _ maybe _ \- there’s more to you than just negative traits!”

When she brushed his fur while trapped. How soft his eyes had been, if only for a moment. 

“And then you just take it all back!” Unable to push her frustration back down, Yin raised her arms to the ceiling in exasperation. Her magic reacted with her; windows rattling and candle flames flickering on and off like light bulbs. “You just go back to your annoying, evil self like nothing ever happened! People try to help you and it’s like you don’t WANT to be helped and I’m SICK of it-!”

A whimper cut her off.

Yin slapped both hands over her mouth, the room fading back into complete silence. Yuck was now turning in his sleep, fur bristled as he growled and kicked the air. “Stop it,” he whispered hoarsely, frown deepening, “ _ stop it. _ ”

_ Oh, OK. He’s just having a nightmare _ . Or at least she hoped; it almost seemed like he was talking to her for being so loud without noticing. Was what he dreaming about that was upsetting him so much?

“Stop- No,  _ wait _ .” Her eyes widened as his expression went from anger to outright fear. He was curling further into himself, trembling ( _ shielding himself _ ), face all twisted up like he was hurting- “Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Yuck?” She hesitantly reached out to him, but his thrashing was getting worse by the second. His breathing was becoming more erratic, his mouth was making strange noises that sounded somewhere between snarling and sobbing, and it was scaring her. “Yuck, it’s-it’s OK-”

“Please stop! It hurts!” Now his hands were pressed against his face, sharp nails digging deep into the fur. His voice,  _ his voice _ , it wasn’t the voice of the malicious rogue Warrior that tried to destroy her and her family. It was hoarse, and it was broken, and it was pleading- “I’m sorry! I promise I’ll be good!  **_Just stop hurting me, please-!_ ** ”

“Yuck, STOP!” Too panicked to think rationally but desperate to do something to make it all stop, Yin slapped her hands down on Yuck’s, keeping them from hurting him any further.

He laid completely still like a statue, expression frozen in fear, the only movement being that if his chest as he kept breathing erratically. Yin stared back, only just realizing what she had done and inwardly panicking as she awaited for Yuck to wake up any second now and let all hell break loose (while a part of her inwardly wondered how THAT hadn’t woken him up already).

_ What do I do. What do I do what do I do whatdoIdowhatdoIdo- _

In a moment of clarity, she recalled the time she and Yang both caught the Woo Foo Flu and Master Yo cured them of their magic sneezes but not the other symptoms. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night, feverish and miserable and desperately in need of comfort, and even though they weren’t very close to the panda at the time, he still had spent the entire night by her side doing his best at exactly that.

“It’s OK.” She whispered, her right hand slowly letting go of Yuck’s hand and gently running her fingers through the fur at the top of his head, like she recalled Master Yo doing what now felt like ages ago. She only hoped she was doing it right. “It’s OK. I’m here. It’s OK.”

For many painful minutes, she saw no change. But just as she was about to give up, she noticed his breathing slowing down, his expression slowly softening, just like that day at Fastidious’s lair. The trembling was still there - she could still feel it under her fingers - but much less so.

The first drops of rain hit against the window outside.

Yin let go of the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She kept trying to ease her nerves by focusing entirely on stroking Yuck’s fur - still baby soft now that it was clean, just like she remembered - but whatever had just happened still weighed heavy on her mind. Yuck, of all villains, wasn’t one to be so easily scared, but the way he had cried out in fear in his dreams was not something even he could fake.

**_“Just stop hurting me, please-!”_ **

Her eyes fell on the bruises all over his chest, hidden away by bandages. Her throat closed tighter, as did her hand.

….

_ Wait a minute- _

Her eyes returned to the top of Yuck’s head, where his one free hand was holding hers tightly But before she could react, Yin was pulled downwards and forced to break her levitation; by the time it was over, she found herself on the bed, held closely by the still sleeping rabbit like a teddy bear.

She blinked.

She blinked again.

**_WHAT._ **

“Yuck.” She whispered, cheeks burning bright red as she struggled to pull away - to no avail; his grip was painless but strong. “Yuck, come  _ on _ , you  _ cannot _ be serious-!”

All it did was make him pull her closer to her, making her blush worse. Sputtering in confusion, she struggled one last time before giving up with a sigh. Once she had fully resigned to her embarrassing fate, she turned around to look at him, finding herself admiring the peaceful expression on his face, the gentle rhythm of his breathing, the softness of his fur as her left hand was still pressed against his (no lemony scent like last time, but oh well).

The minutes ticked away, and Yin fell asleep before she even knew it. 

o - o - o - o - o - o

When Master Yo returned to the dojo, he carried with him twice as many first aid supplies in addition to groceries. It had earned him a few stares ranging from confusion to alarm and even a raised eyebrow from Kraggler at his pharmacy, but he didn’t care.

He’d known. From the moment he saw Yuck’s bruises as he tended to his wounds, he knew those weren’t wounds his students would be capable of doing. And for all his recklessness and thirst for violence, he knew they weren’t wounds Yuck would get in some random skirmish either.

_ He can threaten to make a rug out of me all he wants, _ the panda fumed as he stashed away the groceries with a snap of his fingers and a flash of teal magic, _but he’s gonna tell me who’s responsible. And then I’m gonna find them, **and when I do-**_

Bag of first aid supplies in hand, he quietly opened the door to the infirmary. Both eyebrows shot straight up.

He knew the twins wanted to take turns watching over their ‘visitor’; what he didn’t expect was to see Yin and Yuck snuggled close together. Alarms went off inside his head for a moment, but after soundlessly levitating closer he was relieved to verify that everything was fine. In fact, they both looked completely at peace in their sleep - even Yuck, with his tongue poking out between his front teeth like a puppy.

_ Aw. _

  
“Well, if no one’s getting hurt…” the old panda chuckled to himself. And then he frowned in confusion, ears perking up. “....But since when do rabbits  _ purr? _ ”


	10. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Luck leaves the past behind while Yin fears for the future (continued from Fear).

“Yin! Yin, get up!”

Groaning, Yin buried her face under her pillow and half-heartedly waved her hand in hopes it would smack her brother and make him leave her alone. What time even was it? She only knew it was still way too early, so whatever Yang wanted would have to wait.

“Yin, wake up already! You gotta see this!”

But because it was _Yang_ , of course it wouldn’t be that easy. 

Groaning, Yin sat up and threw her pillow at what she hoped was Yang’s face. Except that she was still half-asleep and Yang wasn’t even anywhere close to her bed anymore, instead staring out the window and motioning her to come over. “Yang, I swear if you don’t have a good explanation in the next five _seconds-_ ”

“Is Yuck running off in the middle of the night good enough?”

“What?” Now wide awake, Yin basically pushed her brother away as she looked out the window. It was a triple full moon outside, silent save for the sounds of crickets, cicadas and the occasional frog. And under the three moons’ light, she had a perfect view of a figure in a familiar black hoodie quietly struggling to open the dojo gates. “What is he-!?”

“Shhh, you’re gonna give us away!” Yang pulled his sister down and out of view. After a few minutes of silence, he poked out his head from behind the windowsill to check that Luck hadn’t overheard. Yin saw him narrow his eyes as he gripped the windowsill tighter. “This is it, sis. Undeniable proof that he’s up to something evil!”

“Yang.”

“I know! It’s like the 8th time I’ve said it, but my gut’s telling me I’m right this time!” Quietly stepping away from the window, Yang began rummaging through his things, putting on his own hoodie and grabbing the camcorder and some batteries from his nightstand. “He thinks he’s sooooo _lucky_ , having everyone fooled and making us look like idiots, but let’s see how long his ‘luck’ lasts THIS time-”

_“Yang.”_

“What?” He stopped inspecting the camcorder to look at her, and whatever he saw on her expression made him sigh in exasperation. “Really? You’re _still_ defending him? Yin-”

“You didn’t see what I saw that day, or heard what I heard.” Yin had taken to sitting by the window, not taking her eyes away from the yard. From there she could see what was once Luck’s garden; the green rabbit had suddenly stopped tending to it without any explanation, and by the time Yin had taken it upon herself to save those poor plants, many of them had already wilted beyond repair. And it had started happening the next day after _that_ visit. “Yang, you didn’t hear the way they talked to Luck. It was horrible!”

“Well, duh! They’re bad guys!” Yin looked away for a second to glare at her brother; after she had told him what she’d witnessed, he’d actually been legitimately concerned for a minute...before falling back on mistrusting Luck all over again. He’d even insisted on NOT telling Master Yo at all (“He won’t believe us anyways!”); “So they had a disagreement; as if villains actually get along when working together! That only means Yuck’s plan is falling apart, which makes it the perfect time to-”

“You’re not listening to me!”

“No! _You’re_ not listening to ME!” Alarmed, she briefly checked on Luck to make sure he hadn’t heard Yang’s outburst - and somehow, he didn’t. Yang was now grabbing her arm, forcing her to look at him. “He’s tricking you AGAIN, and you’re just looking the other way just cuz he’s nice to you! He’s even got you feeling bad for him, after everything he did to us! To YOU!”

“Will you stop bringing it up?!” Yin pulled away from him, refusing to look at him in the eye. Brett, Terry Otter, all of that was in the past and it could stay there for all she cared. “Have you considered that I am NOT being tricked, because Luck is not tricking me, _because_ he’s a good guy? And that you’re the only one who refuses to see that?”

There was a clicking sound, and both rabbits turned to see the padlock on the gate fall to the floor as Luck finally made his way out the doors. Yin watched him go with a sinking feeling in her stomach, before turning to her brother who stared back at her accusingly. 

“Then how do you explain running off in the middle of the night without telling anyone?”

Refusing to answer - and not because she didn’t have anything to answer with - Yin looked at the doors again, as if expecting (hoping) that Luck would return. But he didn’t, and she knew that with every passing second, he was getting farther and farther away. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw a splash of yellow. A sunflower in its pot, sitting right beside her on the windowsill. Even with Luck’s garden a shadow of what it once was, that sunflower had remained on its spot, beautiful and radiant as ever, like nothing had ever changed.

“Fine.” Yin grumbled, looking through her dresser for her own hoodie and pointedly ignoring her brother’s grin. “But only so I can prove you wrong.”

o - o - o - o - o - o

It took a couple of minutes for the two of them to track down Luck; for someone sneaking away from the dojo, he wasn’t moving particularly fast. Through open streets and narrow alleyways, past closed stores and silent houses, the twins zigzagged after the former villain all over the town. But no matter where they went, Yin still couldn’t figure out for the life of her where Luck was going.

At least not until they were on the outskirts of town, right towards the badlands. And - the sinking feeling in her stomach worsened - the only place of interest in the badlands was-

“The Night Master’s lair!” Yang whispered behind her as the dark, spiraling towers of the castle appeared before them. A flash of blue, and his flaming sword materialized in his hand; “It all makes sense now! It was all a trick to get us to lower our guard so he could become the new Night Master!”

“H-hold on a minute, there has to be a reasonable explanation!” She argued against her brother (against herself, against the growing doubt gnawing away at her heart); “If it really were a trick, he wouldn’t need to go through all of this just to get to the lair! And-and Eradicus reclaimed the place, so it’s not like the title is up for grabs anymore!”

“Then he’s gonna sell us out to Eradicus! He’s already worked for a Night Master before!”

“Yang, could you STOP IT with your crackpot theories-!?” But before she could finish, something caught her eye. Somewhere beyond the Night Master’s lair, between boulders and pillars of rock, a soft, orange light flickered like candle flame. And from the shadows it cast, one looked too much like a small, hooded figure. 

Both rabbits looked at each other with surprise before Yang’s face hardened with determination. Without waiting for an answer, he ran in the direction of the light with Yin trailing behind him, the weight in her stomach getting heavier and heavier. Running past the castle, they snaked through the rocks as they zoned in closer and closer on the orange light.

_Please. Please don’t let it be that. Please please_ **_please-_ **

“YUCK! COME OUT AND FIGHT US, YOU COWARD!”

There was a yelp as the shadow cast by the light twisted across the rocks, and a second later a familiar figure cast in warm light jumped out from behind a boulder. He threw back his hood, revealing aquamarine fur and panicked orange eyes; “Yin? Yang!? You’re not supposed to be here!”

“We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be: stopping your evil scheme, you….you…” Yang had stepped forward to face Luck with his sword, but the moment the hood was removed the blue rabbit’s expression had become more annoyed than angry; “You’re _still_ wearing that thing?”

While Yang was annoyed, Yin grimaced; from the nose down, Luck was wearing a white facemask with a smile drawn over it. He’d been wearing it for days now, ever since he’d stopped working on his garden, again with zero explanation. Not that she needed one.

_“Keep smiling, no matter what. But not too much in your case; there’s no comfort to be found in those_ **_ghastly_ ** _teeth of yours.”_

“Seriously dude, it looks stupid!”

“I’d rather look stupid than look scary, but that doesn’t matter!” Luck retorted as he adjusted his mask, looking nervously between the twins and the boulder he’d jumped out of, where the orange light was coming from. “What are you guys doing here?! Did you follow me!?”

“Why? Does it bother you?” Yang had taken an offensive stance again, walking closer to Luck with his sword pointed at him. It only made the other rabbit step back. “Worried that we’ll ruin your evil plans once again, _Yuck?_ ”

“It’s _Luck_. And for the last time, I’m not planning anything evil!” Luck whined exasperatedly, hands raised to shield himself from the sword’s blue flames. He looked over Yang’s shoulder at Yin, his ears lowering as he put two and two together; “Yin…?”

“I’m only here to prove to Yang that you’re not doing anything wrong!” She stood beside her brother and forced him to lower his weapon, ignoring his glare. She was focused on Luck, looking for any sign in his expression, in his eyes, any sign she fervently hoped _not_ to find. “You’re....not doing anything wrong, are you?”

Luck didn’t reply right away, his eyes darting towards the light. And Yang seemed to take that as an invitation to push him aside and head towards it himself. Caught between surprise, frustration and _fear_ , Yin swore under her breath and chased after her brother, briefly glancing over her shoulder as Luck struggled to catch up and stop them; “Wait, no! I can explain!”

“We’re done listening to you, Yuck! It’s over! We’re putting an end to this-” But Yang stopped in his tracks, nearly making Yin crash into him. And once she regained her footing, she stopped in place as well to stare, the dread that had been building up being completely cut off by confusion. “Uh...what IS this, though?”

Behind the boulder had to be about a dozen lit candles, along with several burnt out stumps of wax, all set up in a crude semi circle. Inside it, she saw what she could only describe as _random junk_ ; what seemed like a metal helmet of some kind with blue strands sticking out of it, a purple piece of plastic with two red arrow-shaped buttons and a black scrap of cloth, all laid to rest against a smaller, weirdly shaped rock. 

A rock carved in the slender shape of someone that brought too many bad memories.

“The _Night Master?_ As in, the first one we fought?” Yang gasped beside her, and she yelped as she barely dodged his sword the moment he turned around to point it at Luck behind them. “It’s worse than I thought! You’re not planning on becoming or joining a Night Master; you plan on bringing one _back!_ ”

“What? No! It’s not what it looks like!” Yuck pleaded, trying to get past the sword and towards the items to no avail. “Guys, please just let me explain!”

“Explain what, that you’re keeping a weird shrine to your old EVIL boss!?”

“It’s NOT a shrine! Well, _kind of_ , b-but not THAT kind of shrine!”

While Yang and Luck kept arguing with one another, Yin took it as a chance to take a closer look. The statue was indeed carved in the shape of the former Night Master, standing tall and seeming like it was _sneering_ down at her. And the more she looked, the more she recognized the other items; the piece of plastic she recalled as part of Luck’s - _Yuck’s_ \- shrinking belt, and the cloth she couldn’t tell for sure but it seemed to be the same material to the Night Master’s robes. 

Worst of all was what she had believed was a helmet. She turned it around with her foot and found herself looking back at Brett’s dented head, mouth hanging open and empty holes where his eyes used to be. 

They were all items tied to the Night Master - and to the rabbit once known as Yuck as well. Seeing them all piled up like that against the statue, surrounded by candles, made her realize what this all really was. And looking around the rocks - the _debris_ \- around her made her realize where they really were.

“This is where we last fought him. And this isn’t a shrine,” she whispered, staring back into the dark of Brett’s eye sockets, “It’s a grave.”

A candle beside her was blown out.

Yang and Luck fell silent behind her. Then there were footsteps, and while she didn’t turn around she still noticed a blur of aquamarine sit right beside her.

“I can’t expect you guys to understand.” Luck whispered, reaching out to roll Brett’s head over so that Yin didn’t have to look at his face anymore. “He tried to destroy you. He was your enemy to the very end, and it wouldn’t be fair to ask you to....forgive him.”

To Yin’s left, she saw a blue blur sit as well. Yang placed his sword next to him, no longer lit with fire but still holding it tightly.

“It’s funny, really.” Yin turned her head; Luck was staring at the stone Night Master, looking up at its cold sneering face with a strange expression she couldn’t name. “I know that he was evil. I know that he probably just used me, and that if he saw me now he’d **_hate_ ** me, but maybe if I had been there for him, if I hadn’t _died_ -”

Luck’s head turned slightly in their direction, and Yin’s heart clenched painfully at the sight of him smiling sadly, even underneath his mask. “It’s a selfish, awful thought, isn’t it?”

In a way, Yin felt like she understood how Luck felt. The Night Master had deceived, terrorized and attempted to destroy them at every turn...but to someone like _Yuck_ , he probably meant what Master Yo meant to her and her brother. And if Master Yo had been taken from them in that same manner (and he nearly had, several times)-

No. She didn’t even want to imagine what it’d do to her.

“Dude.” Yang interjected, leaning over to look at Luck over Yin; “It’s….not like he’s _dead_ , is he? I mean, he and Coop disappeared but Coop was able to come back!”

“It’s been almost a year; if the **_Night Master_ ** had come out like Coop did, don’t you think _anyone_ would’ve noticed?” Luck’s smile faded, his tone suddenly turning completely deadpan; “I’m an optimist but I’m not naive.”

He looked back at the statue, and lowered his head; to Yin it almost looked like he was bowing in respect. “But despite everything, he was still _my_ master. And he deserved closure.”

“So, uh...this is what you’re here for?” Yang asked cautiously, jumping slightly as the wind blowed another candle out nearby him. “To pay your, uh, respects?”

Luck didn’t answer for a while. Yin looked back at her twin with concern - he only shrugged back - and did a double take when he suddenly stood up. 

“Something like that.”

When he looked over his shoulder at the rabbits still sitting down on the floor, something in his expression made Yin feel uneasy. He was smiling behind his mask again, but it wasn’t the same sad smile as before on any of his usual smiles. It seemed harmless on the surface, but something underneath...unsettled her. 

“I mentioned that I wanted him to have closure. And so he did.” She watched him raise his hand, eyes widening as it glowed with magic; the flickering flames of the candles froze in place with his movements. “Now it’s my turn.”

He waved his hand, and Yin and Yang had to jump back as the flames flared out, twisting and intertwining into a vortex of fire around the Night Master’s statue and its offerings. Yin watched in shock as the flames consumed it all, eating away at rock, plastic, metal, all like it was firewood.

It was over as soon as it started. By the time the mystical fire died out nothing remained of the makeshift grave save for burn marks on the ground and the singed remains of the statue, unrecognizable beyond repair.

“Luck! W-why did you do that!?” Yin turned to the green rabbit in horror as he wiped his hand on his uniform. Yang watched the remains of the grave with the same shock she felt, taking a step closer and jumping back with a hiss when it singed his foot. “You just said the Night Master was important to you!”

“And that was true. Well, kind of. The Night Master was definitely important to _Yuck_ , but he can’t be important to **_me._ **” There was no sadness in his voice anymore; it had become unusually calm, in a way that made her feel anything but. "Not anymore. If I want to be a good guy, I can’t have someone like him distract me from my goal.”

_“It would be a shame for all of your efforts to go to waste,_ **_all because of such fleeting distractions_ ** _.”_

When he turned around, the sweet and gentle smile he gave them behind his mask made Yin’s blood turn to ice. 

“We should go back now, don’t you guys think?”

o - o - o - o - o - o

The trekk back to the dojo was a long and quiet one. Luck had taken the lead with Yin and Yang trailing behind him, not a word exchanged between them. Even when they finally arrived and the gates were closed behind them, neither twin said anything when Luck wished them good night.

Even back in the safety of their room, neither of them said anything as they got ready to go to sleep. Yin noticed Yang open his mouth a couple of times only to regret it, looking visibly disturbed. 

Not that she could blame him.

It didn’t take that long for him to fall asleep, but hours passed and even as the new day finally dawned, Yin remained wide awake in her bed, her blue eyes fixated on the windowsill and her heart beating loudly against her chest.

One of the sunflower’s petals fell, blown far away by the morning breeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter becomes a lot less dramatic when you remember the Night Master DID return in s2, but nobody found out and not even Eradicus fully recognized him so shhhhh


	11. Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuck has terrible life habits and Yin has opinions about them.

“If I go to the supermarket I can get everything at once, but the milk’s cheaper and tastes better at the dairy store…mmm, but the dairy store’s farther off…”

Yin chewed on her glitter gel pen before making more annotations to her list; today was her turn to head to town and get groceries, and true to her meticulous nature she tended to spend more time deciding how to make the most of the money Master Yo gave her rather than actually buying anything. Yang always made her fun for it, but the truth was that the planning part was the most fun for her; it made her feel efficient and accomplished.

“Buuuuuut, if I get milk at the dairy store, I could go to the supermarket first, get the rest AND still have some money leftover for myself! I hope they still have strawberry cookies in stock.”

...And maybe there were  _ other _ benefits. 

Satisfied with her plan, Yin focused on her route again. Fall had already arrived and there were already much less people on the streets at this time of day compared to summer. Not that she minded; it was quieter that way, and quiet gave her peace she very much needed in her already hectic life. As mundane as a run for groceries seemed, there was only so much saving the world  _ nonstop _ she could take all at once.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she had fun with her family or friends that didn’t involve a villain either suddenly crashing the party or secretly plotting their demise.

(She should probably be worried about that).

She picked up the pace once she spotted Pong’s Market right ahead. It seemed fairly vacant, which meant she could get everything she needed in about fifteen minutes if she hurried. From there, it would be another fifteen minutes to the dairy store, and it was usually busy on weekdays so that would mean-

A crash broke her train of thought. 

Yin nearly tripped on her own feet. Right outside the supermarket, down the alleyway she was just passing through, loud noises were coming out of a dumpster. Angry skittering and hissing, right before a raccoon jumped out and nearly made her jump back as it ran away whimpering.

Okay, so. Vermin fighting for food in the garbage. Happened all the time behind the dojo, so it wasn’t all surprising. What WAS surprising were the green rabbit ears that were poking out of the dumpster. 

Yin barely had time to hide behind the wall as Yuck came out of the trash, a banana peel on his head and several scratches on his face, yet somehow grinning triumphantly. The sight of him was enough to put her on edge; what was he planning  _ now!? _ Was he hiding, waiting to rob the supermarket? Or maybe assault unsuspecting shoppers? Or maybe-

She saw him kneel down to rummage through the garbage, and then come out….with a moldy sandwich sticking out of his mouth.

Yin kept staring in shock as Yuck shoved the whole thing down his gullet with his tongue, taking a few chews before swallowing and diving right back into the dumpster. More trash flew over his shoulder as he kept digging, occasionally stopping to put more rotten, half-eaten food in his mouth.

Suddenly, he turned around. 

Yin pressed her back against the wall and out of Yuck’s line of sight. Had he seen or heard her? Was he going to attack? After a while of silence, however, all she heard were more sounds of digging, garbage hitting the floor and chewing so that answered her question. Once she was sure she was in the clear, she hurried inside the supermarket like nothing had happened.

So one of her enemies - the one whose entire character revolved around being  **disgusting** , might she add - ate out of the garbage. Absolutely repulsive,  _ yes _ , but not unexpected from him, right? He didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Not that  _ she _ cared about his eating habits, anyways; what villains did in their own time when not plotting to sink the world in darkness was none of her business.

That’s what Yin kept telling herself the whole time she was buying groceries while ignoring the urge to throw up.

The suns were already setting by the time she was done; she had everything she needed and had even managed to get her hands on her precious strawberry cookies. All that was left was getting milk from the dairy store and she could go home to enjoy her treat in peace. 

She stopped right by the alley the dumpster was in. It was silent.

Cautiously, Yin stepped inside. She couldn’t see Yuck anywhere, which had to mean he was long gone. She looked behind her, making sure no one was looking, and then she pulled out her grocery list and glitter gel pen; she popped the pen’s cap and ripped a piece off the list, but hesitated right before the pen touched the paper.

She sighed. She didn’t even know if this would work.

Frustrated, she scribbled on the piece of paper before fishing her cookies out of the groceries and hastily attaching the paper to it. She looked around the alley, and eventually settled for just leaving them by the foot of the dumpster; at least they couldn’t be missed that way. Once she was done, she made her way out of the alley and back into the street.

Attached to the cookies and in plain view, the note simply read:  _ For Yuck. _

o - o - o - o - o - o

The cookies were overrun by ants by the time Yin passed the supermarket again (at least they weren’t affiliated to Brother Herman, but still). Yuck was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the paper tag with his name on it.

  
  


The sight made Yin furious, and not just because her favorite snack had completely gone to waste (although that WAS pretty high up on her list). She should’ve seen it coming; just because Pong’s Market was where Yuck had first come to the world, that didn’t necessarily mean he felt some kind of attachment to it. He could’ve ended up in the nearby dumpster by mere coincidence, and he probably never saw the cookies waiting for him.

Or maybe he did, and he chose to turn down her gift - which probably explained the missing tag, as his way of spitting all over her kindness. That option was as likely if not even MORE, considering this was Yuck she was thinking about; that alone should have convinced her to stop and forget about the whole matter.

The annoyingly constant feeling of throwing up wouldn’t let her.

Instead, about once or twice a week, Yin kept leaving anything she could get her hands off for Yuck near the supermarket in hopes that he would find it; a sandwich, a bag of fruit gummies, leftover pasta from last night’s dinner, a couple of donuts...all labeled with Yuck’s name, to make it clear it was for him.

Sometimes, she’d return to find the food being eaten by racoons or rats. Most of the time, the food would be completely untouched and rotting. Every time, the label she left would be gone.

There was no way she couldn’t even know for sure that Yuck noticed her ‘gifts’, that it was really him taking the labels but not the food. But she couldn’t stop thinking that such was really the case, and Yuck’s own stubbornness only fueled her own. She refused to give up; not on  _ this. _

_ It was time to change tactics. _

o - o - o - o - o - o

Yin headed for Pong’s Market earlier than usual, right during lunchtime as soon as she wolfed down her own lunch. Yang and Master Yo called out to her, but all she said was that she needed to meet with someone, and that she promised she would explain everything when she returned. Carefully tucked in her arms was a tupperware box.

People stared at her funny as she hurried to the supermarket, even taking a step back as she ran past them; she figured it was the expression on her face more than anything. Today was the day she’d give Yuck a piece of her mind; even if he didn’t show up to the dumpster, she’d track him down all over town if she had to. 

Which is why she wasn’t all that surprised when she arrived at the dumpster and still found no trace of the rogue Woo Foo Knight. The idea of waiting by the garbage didn’t appeal to her at all, but she could afford a couple of minutes to make sure she didn’t miss them; from there, she could check around other grocery stores and restaurants while making sure the tupperware stayed warm for a while longer with Magic-

“I KNEW it was you!”

  
  


Yin jumped back with a yelp as a Foo Sphere exploded in a burst of orange sparks by her feet. Luckily it missed - she could’ve dropped her tupperware otherwise! - but she still glared daggers in Yuck’s direction as he landed right in front of her.

“You think I’m dumb or something!?” He growled, one hand glowing with amber magic and the other...waving a handful of pieces of paper written in pink ink. “If you’re gonna try and poison me or something, at least don’t make it so obvious!”

“OK, listen, before you say anyth -  _ poison you?? _ ” Whatever argument Yin had ready to defend herself vanished and was replaced with outrage. “Is that why you left the food behind!? Why would I try to poison you, you idiot!?”

“Uhhhh, because we’re enemies!? Don’t play innocent with me; why else would you leave food out for me out of the blue?”

“Oh gee, I don’t know, maybe because I was actually trying to  _ help you? _ ”

Yuck hesitated for a second, and the look in his eyes made Yin realize that was an option he genuinely hadn’t considered. But it was quickly replaced with anger as he bared his sharp teeth at her. “Oh, what, you’re pitying me now? Am I some poor stray puppygriff to you?”

“You eat out of the TRASH, Yuck! I saw you!” Yin took a step forward, showing Yuck that she wasn’t scared. He could throw all the tantrums he wanted, but she refused to give up; the nausea would make sure of that. “Do you really NOT see what’s wrong with that? This shouldn’t be a matter of pride or whatever, this is a matter of  _ common sense! _ ”

He rolled his eyes, which only made her fume. “I’m literally called Yuck-”

“Oh, don’t give me that!” Yin took another step, and Yuck actually stepped back, anger now mixed with confusion as his fur puffed out defensively. But Yin didn’t care. “Stop lying! You can’t possibly be OK with this!”

“And what if I am!? Why do YOU care-!?”

“BECAUSE I’VE BEEN THERE, AND IT’S  **_HORRIBLE!_ ** ”

The alley went dead silent. Even the street outside had gotten quieter as a few bystanders stopped in shock. Yin did a double take as she realized how loud that had come out, and suddenly felt very exposed under the look Yuck was giving her.

The nausea kept rising.

“We...Yang and I, we didn’t always live with Master Yo.” She mumbled, looking down at the tupperware in her hands. How it hadn’t cracked under her grip yet, she had no idea. “Before him, we didn’t have anyone. We always ran away from every orphanage they tried stuffing us in, but that meant fending for ourselves and - and food wasn’t easy to get, and…”

She bit her lip. She was afraid that if she didn’t keep her mouth shut, she really would throw up. It was hard to tell what Yuck was feeling; he had his ears pressed flat against his head as he stared at her. “I...didn’t know that.”

“It’s not like we go around  _ advertising _ it.” Yin’s words came out harsher than she intended. Deep breaths, in and out. That time of their lives was long over, and she had to remember that. “It was awful living like that. No one deserves going through what we did.”

Because she had been staring at the tupperware, she didn’t notice the way Yuck’s eyes softened for a moment.

“...Is that for me, too?”

She looked up in surprise. Yuck had his arms outstretched, looking away from her. And maybe it was a trick of the light since it was getting late already, but his face seemed redder under the sunset sky. His fingers made grabbing motions; “I should...at least see what it is, right?”

Slowly, Yin nodded her head before handing over the tupperware. And although she knew it was better to keep her distance and not make Yuck any more suspicious or uncomfortable, she couldn’t help but lean closer as she watched him take the lid off. And it was worth it, with the warm feeling she felt in her chest the moment she saw his eyes light up.

Yin didn’t consider herself a master chef; Master Yo was in charge of their meals and more often than not, TV dinners were on the menu. But she remembered the first night she and Yang stayed at the dojo, which was also the first night their teacher genuinely cooked for them. A ‘family recipe’ he’d learned from Master Ti, he’d said: peanut chicken on a bed of white rice; a simple dish, but one of her favorites if only for the emotional meaning it held for her. And when Master Yo said he’d be making lunch, Yin was instantly at his side with that suggestion at the ready.

She’d brought chopsticks for Yuck to use, but he’d already beaten her to the punch by grabbing a piece of chicken between his fingers and sniffing it. Then he took the whole piece into his mouth and chewed.

He stopped chewing.

Yin’s heart dropped.“Crap, I overdid it with the peanuts, didn’t I? I  _ knew  _ I shouldn’t have gone with that extra cup!” She grabbed the tupperware, trying to pry it off Yuck’s hands. “Listen, it was my first time cooking this, gimme a break-”

Yuck pulled the tupperware away from her, and her jaw fell open as the other rabbit started shoving food into his mouth by the handfuls. “Yuck, NO!” She grabbed for his hands instead, but he kept shrugging her off; “Don’t do that, you’ll get sick! You’re getting food everywhere, you…”

She paused when she felt his arm shake. Yuck’s entire body was trembling.

“Yuck?” Yin took her hands off him, eyes wide; “Are you-?”

“Mmmphmpph!” Yuck furiously shook his head, words incomprehensible with his mouth so full. He swallowed thickly while his free hand kept rubbing his eyes, smearing his damp fur with peanut sauce and rice grains all over. “I WASN’T crying, OK!? It - it was the garbage fumes or something, I just-!”

He was cut short by a hiccup, and then a frustrated growl as he kept rubbing his eyes, facing away from Yin. Any other moment, she could’ve used this scene to poke fun at him, even record blackmail material like she’d do with Yang if only she had her camera on hand.

This time, however, she didn’t have the nerve to do it. She knew exactly how he felt.

“It’s good.” Yuck mumbled, once his breathing slowed down and his eyes were puffy and red but dr(ier). “It’s….really good.”

“...Thanks.” Yin crossed her legs and levitated, and Yuck did the same by her side. “Now you know you can ask more if you need it.”

Yuck made a noise, and for a moment Yin thought he was upset again until she saw him roll his eyes. “Right, cuz those other two are gonna be SO thrilled at me asking them for scraps.”

That earned him a jab to the ribs. “Master Yo may be a grump but he’s not heartless. And Yang doesn’t like you but he knows how it feels, too; I know he would agree with me on this.” 

And maybe it was because of her brain currently stuck in an emotional rollercoaster that was yet to finish its ride, but she reached out to grab Yuck’s hand. It was sticky and wet, but she chose to ignore that. “I said no one deserves to go through this, and I meant it. That goes to you, too, alright?”

Yuck’s expression softened again, and this time Yin saw it. His eyes were so bright under the sunlight as he gently held her hand in his. 

“Alright.”


End file.
